This is a great beachside-style snack, based on the jars of pickled cockles you get at the seafront, but I’ve added a hot chilli vinegar kick. The polenta and cornflour that coat the cockles give them a light crunchy chew, a bit like when you eat popcorn.
Serves 8 as a snack
2kg cockles
500ml milk
300g plain white flour
150g cornflour
100g fine polenta
rapeseed oil for deep-frying
4 fresh red chillies, finely chopped – with seeds and all
sea salt flakes, to taste
For the chilli vinegar
300ml malt vinegar
75g demerara sugar
4 dried red chillies – you want hot ones!
First, make the chilli vinegar. Mix the malt vinegar, sugar and chillies together in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the mixture into a vinegar dispenser, including the chillies, and leave to cool completely. Keep this in the fridge until needed, where it will last for ages.
At least 2½ hours before you plan to serve, discard any cockles with broken shells or any open ones that don’t snap shut when tapped. Wash the cockles under running cold water to remove any grit or dirt (don’t cut corners here: run the water long enough to clean them properly).
Heat a large saucepan over a high heat until very hot and pour in the cockles. Add a splash of water and put a lid on the pan. Steam the cockles, shaking the pan occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until all the shells have opened. Discard any cockles that remain closed. Drain through a colander and leave the cockles to cool.
Pour the milk into a large bowl. When the cockles are cool enough to handle, remove them from the shells and add them to the milk. Discard the shells. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and transfer to the fridge for at least 2 hours.
When you are ready to fry the cockles, mix the flour, cornflour and polenta together. Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan until it reaches 180°C.
Working in batches, dust the cockles in the flour mix, shaking off any excess, then deep-fry a few at a time, so you don’t get big clumps, for 3–5 minutes until they float to the surface and are golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil and drain well on kitchen paper. Season the cockles with sea salt flakes and the finely chopped red chilli. Reheat the oil to the correct temperature between batches, if necessary.
Serve the cockles in rolled baking parchment or newspaper and with the chilli vinegar for sprinkling over.