It's easy to get confused when figuring out how to eat clams. Because shellfish are often served in their shells, we wonder how to take the edible parts into our mouths and what to do with their empty shells. While delicious, scallops can be a challenge to eat. You can eat the clams with your fingers, fork and spoon. You don't have to end a meal with sticky fingers and clams dripping on your shirt. For advice on the etiquette of eating scallops and feeling confident about ordering scallops without worry, read the instructions in this tutorial.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Eating Shellfish in a Restaurant
Step 1. Hold the clam shell with one hand (usually the dominant hand)
Scallops are usually served in a frying pan, bowl with broth, or seafood pasta. Remove one clam from the plate and hold the bottom with the open side of the shell facing out.
Step 2. Take the clam meat with a fork
Gently pry the soft flesh from the open shell with your hands. You'll notice that some of the meat is still stuck to the shell, so you may have to use a fork to scrape the underside of the meat off the shell.
Gently pierce the meat and gently pull it from the shell. Be careful not to poke your hand with a fork
Step 3. Prepare the first bite
If your dish comes with broth, transfer the meat from a fork to a spoon and dip it into your broth. If your dish is served with seafood pasta, use your fork to twist a mouthful of noodles. Eat your clams in one bite.
- The scallop dish may not include broth or pasta, in which case you may be given a bowl of rinse water for your fingers. If there is rinse water, you can eat with your hands.
- If your dish is served with broth, you can also pierce the clams with your fork and enjoy them with a spoonful of stock separately.
Step 4. Clean the empty shell
Usually you will be served a separate bowl or plate for the clam shells. If you weren't given a separate plate or bowl, put the empty shell back in your plate or bowl. Never put clam shells on a serving plate if you are sharing a dish.
Generally, when eating clams in the United States, removing the shells and continuing to use a fork to pick up the shells is considered ethically correct
Step 5. Finish your meal
If you are eating clams with broth, you can spoon the broth into your mouth or use a slice of bread to absorb the broth for one delicious bite. Make sure you only dip one slice of bread at a time (you can pierce the bread with a fork) so you don't dip repeatedly.
- If you enjoy seafood pasta, eat alternating between clams and pasta.
- Eat the shells one by one until your meal is over.
Method 2 of 2: Eat Scallops Casually
Step 1. Eat it straight from the shell
In addition to formal dinners, you are allowed to take the shells and fill them with a small amount of broth, then suck the shells and broth straight from the shells, although you may need to loosen the shells first with a fork.
When the scallops arrive, there is likely to be some liquid flesh inside the shell, which can be very tasty. Sucking the clams from the shell allows you to enjoy the liquid easily
Step 2. Break the scallops in half and use them as a spoon
While it is generally considered disrespectful in high-end restaurants in America, in other countries, such as France, it is common practice to use an empty clam shell as a tool for prying out other shellfish. Use one crack as a spoon and slide it into the next shell to scoop out the meat.
Step 3. Use the empty shell as tweezers
Hold tightly to the back of the empty shell with the open side facing out. Use your fingers to gently press the top and bottom of the shell. This way, you can open and close the shells with your fingers and use them to pick up other shells.
Step 4. Remove all the clam meat from the shell first before eating it
While it's often considered unusual, removing the clams at the start of a meal and enjoying them all at once is acceptable in most places.
This will make it easier for you to eat the clams, especially if your clams are served with broth and soup
Tips
- Squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice over the clams for added flavor.
- Make a white wine and lemon butter sauce, pour it all over the scallops, sprinkle with a pinch of feta cheese, top it off with a nice slice of French bread for dipping and you'll be in heaven.
- Prepare as many tissues as possible.
Warning
- For raw shellfish lovers, especially raw oyster lovers, you really need to know the risk of Vibrio infection. Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that lives in warm seawater and is not caused by pollution. Although uncommon, these infections were 43% higher in 2012 than in 2006-2008, according to 2012 FoodNet data.
- Do not store clams in airtight containers, plastic bags or in water.
- Be careful if you harvest your own clams. Follow written warnings and verify with local authorities that harvesting shellfish is allowed in these waters before you go harvesting or decide to eat them.
- Once the scallops are cooked, never try to open a closed scallop. Throw it away, because it can make you sick.
- The scallops in the shell should be refrigerated between 0 and 7 degrees.
- Store live clams and cover loosely with a clean, damp towel.
- Handle and store raw and cooked shellfish separately to avoid contaminating each other.
- Wash your hands before and after handling seafood.
- Don't eat dead clams whose shells don't close tightly when knocked or are agitated.
- Refrigerate immediately after purchase and eat within two days.
- Neither hot sauce nor alcohol can kill bacteria. Make sure to cook seafood properly.
- The main types of food poisoning caused by eating raw or undercooked fish and shellfish include Salmonella and Vibrio vulnificus.
- Be careful when eating raw clams. Shellfish harvested from approved waters, handled and processed in clean conditions, are safe for consumption raw by healthy people.
- Besides methylmercury, there are other concerns if you plan to eat raw seafood. For most healthy people, eating seafood in moderation poses only a small health risk. However, there are risks for everyone. The result can be food poisoning, symptoms include, potentially causing vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
- For people who are "at high risk" for food poisoning, eating raw or undercooked fish and shellfish can cause severe and life-threatening illness. These people include people with low immune systems or decreased stomach acidity, as well as pregnant women, infants, children and older adults.
- Eating raw fish and shellfish is never recommended for someone at high risk. If you fall into this category, cook fish and shellfish thoroughly. If you are unsure of the level of risk, consult a doctor or registered dietitian.
