I
I have a lot of razor clams and wanted to try something a bit different. I think that the hotter and faster you cook them the better. Problem is, really hot vegetable oil smokes and burns easily and many breading that have corn meal or Panko tend to burn at high heats.
I did a bit of Internet research on which oils have the highest smoking point and found that macadamia oil is one of the best.
Last night I fried some clams with a breading of nothing more than flour and salt and pepper. (Flour tends to resist burning better than most breadings.) I heated the macadamia oil until it was almost smoking then tossed the simply breaded clams in. They cooked in an instant and were very tender. Ever the necks were relatively tender. I think macadamia oil will be my new go to oil for razors. One problem is it is expensive. But I don’t use too much of it and think it’s worth the price.

Dave,

Try smoking them and use them as clam dip. Always a hit at my place.

Captain

That does sound good. I'll have to pick some up and try it.

I read on here a while back from someone to take some Tims Cascade Jalapeno chips and crunch them up into a bread crumb like consistency and then roll the fish in it. Well, I tried it with some halibut and then again with some rockfish and it is fantastic. Not sure how it will hold up to smoking hot oil though.

We use peanut oil for the same reason, high smoke point.

Fritters are great as well.

That was my advise. Awesome stuff for sure.

Fished with Letty Potter once upon a time and she gave us a sampler of her razor clams. She had a medium sized mason jar filled with smoked razor clams and oil. I rezisted at first but after the first bite I ended up cleaning out the jar while she wasn't watching by days end. I am going to give this a shot.

The other night my wife sauteed some clams with olive oil, butter, fresh basil and tomatoes at high heat (just before smoking) and they were unbelievable. I've decided I would rather have them this way instead of deep frying. Seems that they can be a bit too rich and I can't eat as many deep fried. Really no matter which way I've had them lately they are awesome!

Where do you buy macedamia oil? I'd like to try it. I've been using peanut oil. It works well at high heat and it's only $20/gal. For breading I've been using whole wheat flour for a little more substance.

I got Razors last weekend and look forward to the alternative dishes. Going back if April is a dig, good family fun

I am going to try this tasty dish out I have heard good things add some garlic and Game on.

Oh yeah....forgot the garlic was in there as well.

I tried this recipe I found on the WDFW website and I will be hard pressed to ever eat fried/battered clams again.

Pacific Razor Clams with Lemongrass

4 large Northwest razor clams

Pacific Rim Herb Paste
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh garlic
1 small stalk fresh lemongrass, end cut off, trimmed and finely minced
1/2 teaspoon chili paste (sambal olek)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons canola oil
3 green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
1/4 cup light coconut milk (or use regular)

Garnish: 5–6 large cilantro sprigs, coarsely chopped; 1 lime, quartered, or 2 tiny Key limes, halved

Preparation:
Clean the clams and separate the belly from the neck part of the clam. Cut the neck part into bias strips.

Make the herb paste: Combine the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, chili paste, oil and salt together in a small bowl. If you have a food processor, then give it a quick pulse to combine. Toss with the clams.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high/high heat. Cook the belly part of the clam for 1 minute, turning as needed. Then add the remaining clam strips, green onions and bell pepper and sauté for about 1 minute more, moving ingredients around the pan as they cook. Add fish sauce and coconut milk and cook about 1/2 – 1 minute until heated through. Sprinkle with cilantro, and serve with limes for squeezing. Serve immediately.

*I followed these instructions to the T and couldn't have been more pleased. I will note. Where it says cook the belly for 1 minute be sure to watch your heat and turn when cooked on one side quickly. I cooked with the added sauce a little longer than recommended and will cook less next time. You don't want them over done.

Cobble Cruiser

Did I mention that my fee for showing you how to dig is 10% of your first 10 limits?

Did we get that in writing?

So.....do most grocery stores carry macadamia oil? I've never seen it, but then, I've never looked for it either.

peanut oil

Dave,
I did your Tim's chip thing but didn't fry them. Stuck them in a 500 deg oven for 3 min turned them over for another 3 min, done. Had ten of us for dinner, they loved em.

We always cook ours in butter flavored Crisco.

It is very good.

fp

Verbal contracts are not enforcable in Washington.

Question: does macadamia oil have a higher smoking temperature than peanut oil? And how much does it cost, and where do you get it?

So far I'm sold on Eyefish's recipe.

Sg

Yes. $7.00 8 oz. Dunno, will ask wife and report back.

When I deep fry them which is hardly ever any more I always used extra light virgin olive oil.The last year or so I have switched to the recipe on the "Rock of the coast" station KDUX.They have a baked clam recipe on there and it's good and will most likely not fry a clam again.

Flour / egg wash / Crushed fine ritz crackers / melted butter and 500 degrees in the over for 3 minutes then flip and go another 3 minutes,good stuff easy clean up.Try it,you'll like it.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

P.S. I use a rolling pin to make my ritz crackers fina as dust.