Got back from a fast trip (2 days) to Everett for Crab/Clams and brought home 2 limits of Horse Clams for the first time.
Been told they are only good for grinding and clam chowder but figured with that huge siphon I would experiment......

Found that if you cut out the siphon, cut off the tip about an inch down, then split it in two halves and lay them down on a flat board and skin them the way we do fillets, there are 2 NICE steaks about 1 inch wide by 4 inches long (of course, depends on size of clam) that when pounded with a mallet, dipped in egg/cracker meal and fried is EXACTLY like abalone in texture and sweet flavor! I couldn't believe it (I love Abalone)!
Anyone else tried to eat them this way? My Mom thought I was crazy (Oh Honey, no one eats those) but when she tried it her exact words were "Oh my God, that is so good!".

Give it a try. A little work, but definetely worth it!

MC

Yeah they're good. I usually grind mine up, add a little egg then make patties with cracker meal. Freeze the indiviual patties on a cookie sheet then vacuum pack them. Take them out of the freezer and right into a fry pan and brown both sides. Great stuff.

OBTW, horse calms are for girls, kick it up a notch and go for the "proud" clam. Geoduck.

Beezer

i grind mine and make patties also and once in awhile i brine some up and make clam jerky

Clam Jerky, now that sounds good. Do you have a secret brine? Or at least a good one you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks in advance!!

nebb i usually use either yashidas teriyaki or my fish brine which is a 3 to 1 ratio of dark brown sugar to rock salt with seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, fresh ground pepper (etc) added to taste i tend to use less salt then i would when doing fish. smoke for a couple hours using your favorite chips and dry for remainder till desired dryness i don't have a specific recipe to give you as i experiment each time i make something part of the fun of it i guess hope this helps