WDFW Coastal Shellfish Manager Dan Ayres advises to keep it simple. “I don’t go to a lot of trouble to put them in a batter and all of that. All I do is lightly dust them in flour, and put them in a hot frying pan. But don’t let them stay there very long, just get them out and eat them.”
Ayres fires up the barbecue grill, then puts a big pan over the coals, pouring oil into the pan. He says to get it “sizzling hot” and then get the coals to smoke by adding some woodchips. Put the clams in the pan, cover it with a lid for a few minutes and then flip the clams over for another two minutes or so. Doing it on the barbecue can save your house from smelling like clams for days afterward, Ayres notes. Also, he says the two mistakes most people make is not cleaning the clams right after the dig, and then cooking them too long in the pan.
