Clambake Class

ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

ChefSteps

Large pot(s)

Spider strainer

Geoduck

Ice water

Submerge the geoduck in boiling water for 30 seconds to blister and loosen the tough outer skin. Dunk in ice water to stop cooking.

Blanch for 30 seconds to blister skin; chill quickly

Don’t Keep Live Geoducks on Ice: Unlike other shellfish, geoducks will die if you get them too cold, so though you might be tempted to pack them on ice when you get home from the market, it’s best to just keep them refrigerated without ice. That’s because they’re not made to withstand freezing temperatures—they spend their entire lives about three feet deep in sand, where the temperature stays at about [f 55].Whack on a hard surface to firm up the meat: When you’re making sashimi with geoduck (and you should), it’s best to have firm, toothsome meat. Take a live geoduck by the siphon and whack the shell as hard as you can against a butcher block two or three times. This causes the geoduck’s muscles to contract, lending an almost crunchy texture to the meat. Of course, whacking live shellfish on a butcher block isn’t for the faint of heart. But for most chefs, it’s worth it.

Chef’s tips

Slice along the shell on one side. Pry open the shell, and pull all the geoduck meat out. Discard shell. Remove the guts of the geoduck as shown in the video.

Open shell; remove skin and guts

The siphon is the long part of the geoduck that sticks out of the shell. Aptly named, it has two small holes at its tip, which the animal uses to suck in food and eliminate waste. Geoducks can stretch their siphons up to three feet long in order to reach the surface of the sand in which they are buried. They then pump seawater full of plankton into their bodies through one hole, filter the nutritional contents into their bodies, and then spit the waste out of the second hole.

Why is it called a “siphon”?

Cut the breast of the geoduck away from the siphon. Reserve breast.Trim the end of the siphon until you have a clean edge. We do this just to make the siphon meat look better; it’s not necessary to do so.Cut the thick base meat away from the narrower tip of the siphon. Slice the tip open lengthwise and rinse out any sand or pebbles. Rinse the breast to remove sand.

Trim; clean

For pro geoduck-digging advice, we turned to marine biologist and Pacific Northwest shellfish farmer <a href="https://www.baywatershellfish.com/">Joth Davis</a>. According to Davis, it’s best to dig for geoducks at super-low tide, below a tidal level of -2 feet. Find holes in the sand about 1.5 inches in diameter, with a tiny tip sticking out. Don’t be fooled—horse clams (also delicious, by the way) make holes almost exactly the same size and live in similar areas. You can recognize a geoduck by the two holes at the tip of its siphon. Horse clams also fan out a set of tentacles at the rim of the hole—a telltale sign that you’re not looking at a geoduck.To dig the geoduck out, shove a large tube about two to three feet directly down the hole. (Most geoducks don’t go deeper.) Then dig down with your hands or a shovel until you see the geoduck shell, and pull it out!

Get your own!

Fresh geoduck is often eaten raw. Keep cold until you’re ready to use.The breast is best for chopping up into small pieces, perhaps as a tartare. The narrower part of the siphon is best cut into lengthwise strips, perhaps for chowder. The siphon base can be sliced thin and served raw.

Cut for desired use

The Old Man of the Sea: The oldest geoduck ever recorded lived to be 168 years old, but it’s thought that they can live to be even older than that. Fisheries usually harvest geoducks at about 20 to 40 years old; aquacultured geoducks are between six and eight years old.Big Bucks: The geoduck industry rakes in about $80 million a year in the US alone. They’re sold for between $20 and $150 per pound. Small World: The largest geoducks in the world are farmed in Mexico. The Pacific Northwest has the second-largest (and most highly regarded) species, and Argentina, New Zealand, and Japan all harvest smaller varieties. They’re not found anywhere else on earth.

Fun facts for the geoduck aficionado

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Re-create the smoky, salty goodness of a seaside clambake in the comfort of a home kitchen.

Home Clambake

Get Inspired: Use Geoduck in a Home Clambake

<a href="http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com">Taylor Shellfish</a>, <a href="https://www.baywatershellfish.com/">Baywater Shellfish</a>, and <a href="https://www.uwajimaya.com/">Uwajimaya</a>.

Recommended geoduck sources for northwesterners

Meet the geoduck (pronounced “gooey-duck”), an iconic bivalve native to the Pacific Northwest, distinct in its enormous—and undeniably suggestive—stature. Geoducks are particularly popular in the Pacific Northwest, Asia, and New Zealand but largely unknown elsewhere in the world. If you can get your mitts on one, lucky you: their firm meat and savory flavor makes for awesome sashimi, delicate garnishes, and even hearty chowders.

How to Clean Geoduck