Home › Shell Fish › Fried Clams

Fried Clams

For this use small sand clams. Drain them in a colander, Do and dry one by one, on an old napkin or soft linen. not lift them with a fork, but carefully with the fingers. Season on both sides with salt and cayenne. Beat up an egg in a saucer, add one tablespoonful of boiling water and half a teaspoonful of salt. Put some nice stale bread crumbs out on your baking board, and season with salt and cayenne. Dip the clams one by one, first in the bread crumbs, then in the egg, and then place again in the crumbs, covering every part most carefully, and pressing it lightly with the hand. Put a deep frying pan over the fire, with enough oil or lard to immerse the clams. Be sure the oil or lard is smoking hot (365° Fahr.); if you have no thermometer, drop in a crumb of bread, if it browns quickly, it is hot enough. Put in six clams, watch them carefully, as soon as they are of a golden brown, take them out with a skimmer, and drain on a soft piece of brown paper, and serve at once on a hot dish. Some kind of pickles should always be served with them, in a separate dish.

Clams are very much better fried in oil than lard or butter. They should never be fried until you are quite ready to eat them, as they are not good when kept warm, or warmed over. If you have a large quantity to fry, they may be dipped an hour or two before serving time, and spread on a clean cloth in a cool place. Always use bread crumbs in preference to cracker crumbs. 25 clams 2 eggs I cup of milk