Steamed clams is a seafood

Seafood

Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...

 dish consisting of various types and preparations of clam

Clam

The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

 that steamed

Steaming

Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food.-Method:...

 according to local custom in various countries.

In the United States the dish is commonly prepared with a kind of shellfish

Shellfish

Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...

 called steamers, a somewhat generic name that usually refers to a small soft-shell clam

Soft-shell clam

Soft-shell clams, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams" are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae....

 harvested and served along the East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 and in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

. Steamers are so named because of the way are most often prepared.

Hard shell clams, sometimes known as quahogs, can also be steamed. They are categorized by size— the smaller ones are called littlenecks, medium-sized ones topnecks, and the larger ones cherrystones.

The clams used for steaming are usually cooked live. If in a hard shell, the clam should be closed when purchased and should open after being cooked. Soft shell clams are open slightly (agape) while alive. Larger chowder clams are not typically used for steaming.

Preparation

Clams are steamed according to many different recipes in different regions. In China, steamed clams can be served with eggs. In Thailand steamed clams are served with lemongrass, ginger, or herbs. In France they are often cooked with white wine, onion, garlic, shallots, and butter. A huge plate of steamed clams in Restaurant el Club in San Felipe, Mexico, costs 45 pesos, according to a 2007 travel guide. Steamed clams are also eaten in Japan ("Oosari" are large steamed clams), and many other countries with large coastlines.

The New England clam bake

New England clam bake

The New England clam bake is a traditional method of cooking foods, especially seafood such as lobster, mussels, crabs, steamers, and quahogs. The seafood is often supplemented by sausages, potatoes, onions, carrots, corn on the cob, etc...

 is a traditional preparation that includes clams layered with other ingredients such as corn, lobster, mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

s, crabs, potatoes, and onions in a metal bucket. The layers are separated by seaweed and steamed over a fire outdoors and served family style as at a picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

.

To prepare steamed clams, live clams are rinsed carefully to remove sand and grit and then cooked in a large kettle of water with salt added. They are served with broth for and melted butter for dipping. Lemon juice, beer, garlic, shallots, parsley, and wine are sometimes used for flavoring and to season the broth.

Steamers can be held by the siphon or "neck" when eaten. The covering of black skin is pulled away and removed as the clams are ingested.

Steamers may be served simply. In the open shell the clam is given a few quick dips in broth to remove any lingering sand before being dipped in melted butter and eaten.

Notable accounts of steamed clams

In Florida, a couple were halfway through a $10 plate of steamed clams when they found a rare, iridescent purple pearl estimated to be worth thousands of dollars.

Steamers

Steamers are praised by many chefs, for instance Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin is an internationally recognized French chef, television personality, and author working in the United States. Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Lyon in France, Pepin was raised by a father and mother who jointly owned a restaurant, where he later credited the start of his love for food. He...

: "Plentiful and inexpensive during the summer, especially in the Northeast, steamers are one of the great treats of the season." They are found in shallow waters from the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

 to North Carolina, and have been found in Florida and Europe. They can be dug up by amateur clam diggers. Steamers have been transplanted to the West Coast and are available from San Francisco to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. They are sold in tanks and can also be shipped directly to consumers, but their shells sometimes get cracked.