SERVES 4
SKILL LEVEL: EASY
COOK TIME: 4 MINS.
PREP TIME: 15 MINS.
COST: $
My wife, Lizzie, lived in Boston before we met, and, on a later visit there, she took me for my first really great fried clams. We ate our way through piles of clam sandwiches, steamed lobsters, the whole thing. I wondered: How did they get such perfection? Try as I might, I couldn’t figure it out. Instead of overthinking it, which we chefs sometimes to, I went in the kitchen and asked them how they did it. Some chefs treat these things as The Secret of the Ages. Not these guys. They told me right off the bat: evaporated milk and corn flour, and fry them in lard, that’s it. Moral of the story: quite often the greatest things in life are the simplest.
Canola oil, for frying
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Salt
Pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
½ cup panko bread crumbs
2 dozen Littleneck clams, shucked
¼ cup tartar sauce (recipe follows)
4 potato hot dog buns
Lemon wedges, for garnish
1. Preheat the oil to 375 °F.
2. Create a dredging station by placing three baking dishes side by side. The first dish will be the flour, seasoned generously with salt and pepper. The second dish will be the egg and evaporated milk, beaten together. The third baking dish will be the panko bread crumbs.
3. Dredge the clams first into the flour, then the egg mixture, then the panko, and drop them into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3–4 minutes.
4. Spread a generous amount of tartar sauce on each of the buns, and divide the clams evenly among the four buns. Serve with lemon wedges.
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons pickles
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon horseradish
Juice of ½ a lemon
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1. Mix all ingredients until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.