A New England clambake, made with clams, lobster, mussels, potatoes, corn, and chorizo, is a summer classic.
“It’s a plate that claims New England,” said Dell Leandro, the culinary director at Summer Shack who called our region’s shellfish “beautiful and sweet.”
It’s not hard to make the dish at home, he said, as long as you have the proper ingredients and know how long to cook them for. He offered the following five tips for preparing a New England clambake for two.
Add one pint of fresh water per bake (if you’re cooking over a propane heater increase the water to 1.5 pints per bake.) Don’t pour the water directly on the chickens because you’ll wash off the delicious seasoning!
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Get your ingredients and clean your clams.
To make a clambake for two, you’ll need to buy two lobsters, one-half pound of steamers, one-half pound of mussels, one Spanish onion, one piece of chorizo, two ears of corn (cut in half), eight potatoes (Leandro prefers red), two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of Old Bay spice, and water.
You’ll want to remove any sand off the clams by dipping them in cold water and shaking them gently, Leandro said. Repeat the process a few times, he said.
Where to buy your ingredients? “I prefer to go to a local fish store,” Leandro said. “But most of the supermarkets in New England carry all that stuff.”
Make your broth.
Julienne an onion and saute it in the two tablespoons of butter in your pot for one to two minutes, until it’s translucent, Leandro said. Then you’ll want to add the two tablespoons of Old Bay spice and the water, he said. How much water?
“It depends on the size of the pot,” Leandro said, “But I would say enough water so you can submerge the potatoes and corn and chorizo and submerge the lobster,” Leandro said.
Once that comes to a simmer, you will start to add your ingredients, he said.
How to Do A New England Clambake at Home
FAQ
How much water do you steam clams?
How many clams per person for clam bake?
How do you clean clams?
Place clams in a large bowl or pot then cover with cold water (you’ll want the water level a few inches above the top of the clams). Gently toss the clams in the water to get rid of any loose grit and fill with a fresh batch of water. Rinse and repeat until the water appears clean.
How do you cook a clambake in Your Own Backyard?
Learn how to cook a clambake in your own backyard. Get the lobster pot setup on the burner. Add about 5 inches of water and bring the pot to a boil over high heat. White the water is heating, add the onions, garlic, bay leaf, sea salt and peppercorns, to the center of a large square of cheesecloth.
Do you need a beach to have a clambake?
Ina says. Ina Garten doesn’t think you need a beach to have a delicious clambake this summer — and if Ina says it, you can believe it. After years of catering elaborate beachside clambakes in the Hamptons, she found a genius way to skip lugging seafood to and from a beach on a boiling hot summer day.
How do you clean clams & mussels?
To help clean your clams and mussels, submerge them in a bowl of cold water mixed with about 1/3 cup of flour and let them soak for about 30 minutes before draining them. This will help extract the excess sand. Place your steamer pot on your burner. Add in the white wine and about 2 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.