Clam-digging, oyster-shucking, shellfish-cooking fun

Here's my DOUBLE Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the fourth week of February and first week of March. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new.  

 

Week 8: Digging for clams and oysters!

Week 9: Shucking oysters and steaming clams!

A posse of oysters

Why they're on my list: I'm big on eating local food, and when you live on the Puget Sound, local food includes clams and oysters.  I like clams!  I like oysters! I like cooking! It also seems un-Pacific NW of me to have lived here for over 10 years without ever digging clams or cooking clams or shucking an oyster, and going on a clam dig has always sounded like a super fun weekend adventure.

Hang Ups: The powers that be do not make it easy to go do these things, people. There are many planning details to get hung up on.

1. You have to find a beach that is open to the public and that is presently open for clamming and/or oyster harvesting. Chances are the beach is a state park, so… 
2. You have to go buy the appropriate parks pass somewhere. 
3. You have to go buy a fishing license (with any luck, at the same place where you bought the parks pass). 
4. You have to check the tide tables for low tide times at your selected beach and choose a day with a low tide that is relatively low and at an appropriate time of day for you to visit.
5. You need to rustle up a bucket and a shovel or two for the clamming, and some serious gloves and a good knife for oyster shucking. Also, rain gear and rain boots are pretty damn helpful. 
6. You have to figure out what the heck the techniques are for doing these things.

And then, after all of that, you have to have a plan for how and when you're going to prepare these things to eat. No wonder I lived here for ten years before tackling shellfish fishing.

Clams, clams, and more clams!

Conquered: February 25, 2012.

Where: Wolfe Property State Park, Bywater Bay, Jefferson County, WA.

With: My friend (G)SW.

How: Let's go thru my above planning list, shall we?

1. In the days leading up to our adventure, I spent hours on the Internet trying to find a beach, within two hours (max) of Seattle, that was open for clams and oysters with no Department of Health restrictions. I found a few and settled on this one due to the promise of abundant oysters and the beach's proximity to (G)SW's parents' place on Bainbridge Island. 
2. Since Wolfe Property is part of Shine Tidelands State Park, we needed to purchase of some sort of park pass. So my Internet research included where we might stop and buy one in the greater vicinity of (G)SW's parents' place or the beach. 
3. I also researched where we could buy shellfish permits.  Fortunately, I found a place in Poulsbo that sells both parks and fishing permits. Unfortunately, that place is Walmart. Sigh. 
4. Ah, tides. Planning for a low tide is one of the bigger obstacles to shellfish harvesting if you don't live right by a beach. The Internet informed me the previous week had been the lowest tide of the month. Oops. Still, looking at the time tables for nearby Port Ludlow showed me that the tide would be reasonably low (2 feet) at 1 PM on that coming Saturday. Perfect! 
5. Gear is important. I have a bucket & rain clothing, but no rain boots, no serious gloves, no shovels, and no knife I was willing to compromise for shucking oysters. But (G)SW's parents had boots to fit both of us, and gloves and shovels to lend. We purchased a fishing fillet knife in the fishing and hunting section of Walmart. 
6. More Internet research told me: two ways to shuck an oyster; rules requiring oysters to be shucked on the beach and for their shells left there; daily harvest limits per person for oysters (18) and clams (40); types of clams native to the region and identifying marks; techniques to keep the clams alive and to clean them; and ideas of how to cook our bounty.

Whew! Now we were ready to go!

Those are ALL oysters

The Experience: I was expecting it to blow and rain like crazy on us all day, but it didn't. There were TONS of oysters on the beach, and (G)SW quickly mastered both shucking techniques. 

(G)SW shucking from the side

When I went to shuck one, it became clear that we'd bought a crap knife for the task, and I was terrified of breaking the knife tip off or cutting through my gloves and hands with either the knife or the sharp edges of oyster's shell.  But I did it! We collected the oysters in a Tupperware container for eating later.

That's a HUGE oyster.

While clamming, we didn't have to dig as deep or rapidly as I thought we might to find clams. Turning over a shovel or two of dirt turned up a good amount of clams—a hand-held garden fork and a trowel would have been more useful than the two shovels we brought. And in one shallow pool of water, we could just scoop them up in our hands to sort out the half shells, the partially open clams, and those that were too small to harvest.

So many clams...

Taking our bounty back to Seattle, we decided to cook the oysters that night, and left the clams outside in sea water to keep them alive until cooking time. (G)SW drained and rinsed the oysters and then he dipped them in egg and bread crumbs for me to pan fry.  I mixed some extra horseradish in with our cocktail sauce and squeezed lemon over the fried oysters.  We ate them with a nice baguette. They were GREAT.

Bounty.

The next afternoon, I transferred the clams into a big bowl of tap water with a 1/2 cup of cornmeal.  This apparently is supposed to help clean them, but I think the clams already had spat up most of their sand in the salt water overnight. Then I scrubbed the clam shells.

Soaking in cornmeal...

I melted some butter and sauteed some garlic, and then added vermouth and the clams, following this recipe.  I can't believe how simple this was.  So much fear for nothing.  As soon as the clams were all open, I ran to my car with the covered pot and another baguette and drove straight to my friend ES's house to force them upon guests at her Oscars viewing party.  The guests and I agreed that the clams were totally edible. Rather delicious, actually.

Butter melting....

Yummy steamed clam goodness!

The Verdict: I found clamming really peaceful (especially given the calm weather); I can't wait to go again. Maybe I'll even invest in a year-long shell-fishing license.  And I will definitely make clams again before long, because it was so easy and they were so good. As for the oysters, I think we need a better knife for shucking, and I'd feel more comfortable with thicker gloves.  But I'm totally willing to give it another try.

Happy as a clam!