What is razor clamming?

Catching razor clams is a rewarding pastime and it is a wonder that so few people living in coastal regions take part in the practice. Not only would a fair portion of those folk be ill equipped in telling you where to find a razor clam, a great many wouldn’t even know what one is in the first place. This is a double shame because (1) they can be foraged for free without a license– at least that is the case in Western Europe – and (2) just about anybody can learn how to catch one.

Where are razor clams found?

The razor clam, a tan-coloured mollusc shaped like an old-fashioned straight razor, is called Ensis arcuatus by marine biologists and can be found on the coast of just about any country with a North Atlantic shoreline.  These beauties can also be found on the Pacific coasts, but I don’t know much about that enterprise. There could even be Arctic razor clams, but experience is with Atlantic razor clams,.

They are burrowing creatures and most commonly found in abundance under the sand of intertidal flats or sub-tidal zones in bays and estuaries. When the tide is out, the clams can be found by way of a keyhole shaped dimple they make in the sand that is easy to spot once you know what you are looking for.

Retrieving the thin clam from its vertical burrow is a relatively straightforward undertaking and as far as I am aware there are two main methods you can employ for the task. The first method is an elementary affair and involves little more than locating the mentioned breathing holes and pouring salt over them. The razor clam has a limited ability to tolerate high levels of salinity and so the salt will severely agitate the creature. Its first reaction will be to burrow its way further down into the sand. The razor clam may be a very stupid creature, but it will not take long before it realizes that digging is no way to escape the salt. Instead, it will then make its way to the surface whereby it can be collected by hand or dug out of the sand with a shovel. There are dozens of articles to be found in glossy magazines and cook books that will explain exactly how you can do this and it is all well and good if all you want is to pick as many clams as you can in as short a time as possible. However, as anyone who knows what they’re talking about will tell you, this method entirely lacks any kind of skill and misses the point of the exercise almost entirely; that it is as much about how you catch the things as it is about catching them.

The second method is a slightly more difficult enterprise and more rarely practiced due to the hazard of painful injury it contains. The older gents who spend all afternoon down at the bay during the summer months will tell you that this is the only way to catch razor clams and it is also my own preferred method. These gents are the same types who will tell you that nothing is ever achieved without working for it and that there is no such thing as a free supper. They generally don’t mix well with others (that’s why they are on the bay in the first place) but if you get one on a good day and are able to flatter him then he will show you what you should be looking for and how to get the job done properly. To the best of my knowledge, the way they catch clams has yet to be written down and it is only for this reason that I am telling it to you now.

You need little more than a steady hand and reasonably trained eye to get your clams this way and the more you do it, the better you will get at it. And the better you get at it, the more you will enjoy doing it. You will also want to take off your shoes, roll up your trouser cuffs and dip into the shallow pools of salt water that linger in the bay after the tide has just about gone out for the afternoon. In the water, it’s not a breathing hole you’re looking for but a coin-sized white spot on the sea bed. At first you might confuse the spot with a shard of old shell that has been buried in the sand, but what you are looking at is the clam’s siphon. When they’re covered by water, razor clams will always come closer to the surface and once you know what you are looking for, you will start to see them everywhere.

You want to lean forward and slowly bury a hand with your palm facing upward – like you are scooping honey out of a jar – into the sand about 5 inches from the white spot. From a distance, you will look like you are making a crooked tripod of yourself and some onlookers will think you have taken leave of your senses. When you can feel the broad side of the clam’s shell with the tips of your fingers, you want to gently push it sideways against the sand, that will stop the little rocket from shooting away. What you don’t want to do is grab the whole thing in your fist, you will startle the clam and these things can burrow like nothing else. If you have a hand wrapped around one of them when they decide to scarper, they will cut you something fierce. You want to bring your thumb in on the other side of the shell so that you’re holding it as you would a cigar. Withdraw the creature from its burrow slowly but firmly; you don’t want to snap the foot from the shell – This appendage is certainly not the most attractive of protrusions, but it is dense with meat and some would argue that it is the most flavourful part of the entire clam.

On the walk back across the bay to the road, you can search through the seaweed and between rocks for any loose mussels that might have escaped the tide. These go down very well with the clams, but remember only to keep the ones that are still closed otherwise you will end up eating a dead mussel and putting yourself in bed for three days, during which time you will have a wicked fever and ruin several pairs of pyjama bottoms.

How do i  clean a razor clam?

With water, until it looks clean.

What is a good razor clams recipe?

On a good day you will go home with a chest full of sea air and a cheap meal that you can be happy to tell yourself you have earned. The clams can be eaten straight out of the water or steamed in a pot with a little garlic and parsley.  Cooking a clam should never be an elaborate operation. They are a simple food to be enjoyed simply, ie. with a few slices of good toasted bread and a cold glass of good wine. Collect enough clams and maybe you can find a restaurant that will buy them from you. I’m sure that there are plenty of high end places serving all sorts of interpretations and riffs on these beauties, but there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple. You should never need to put a clam into a liquidizer. If you are going to show other people how to razor clam like the old men on the bay, make sure to show them properly as you don’t want to be the one explaining your friend’s missing finger to the seaside doctor and I want no part of that.

How do razor clams taste

That’s not for me to dictate to you. To me, they taste like the sea and home. You might like them, you might hate them, but at least give them a try.