How To Clean Clams — The Best Way to Purge Sand

Learn how to purge the sand and grit from fresh clams with my step-by-step guide and video. This method is the best and easiest way to clean clams for a recipe!

Are you cooking clams for dinner? After returning from the grocery store, you must take care of the clams you bought. Learn how to purge the sand and grit from fresh clams with my step-by-step guide and video. This method is the best and easiest way to clean clams for a recipe!

Why We Need To Clean Clams

Live clams filter sand and saltwater out of their systems when they breathe. You definitely need to purge sand from clams that you caught at the beach. How about ones you get from the fresh seafood case in a mesh bag at the market?

You may think the clams at the store are ready to cook, and some packages may say “cleaned.” However, the clam’s system hasn’t thoroughly purged its sand and grit yet. They also emit poop, dirt, and saltwater constantly while alive! So, I recommend cleaning store-bought clams when you get home.

The worst experience is when you crunch into grit while dining on fresh clams. It’s happened to me with those “cleaned” clams. Don’t take a risk and ruin your meal; it’s well worth the extra time to clean the clams of their debris!

When To Clean Clams

The best time to clean clams is as soon as you come home from grocery shopping or clamming at the beach in coastal regions. Refrigeration slows down the clam’s system, and will take more time to purge. So the sooner, the better!

This technique works for all types hard-shell clams and other bivalves. These include razor clams, cherrystones, and steamer clams.

Different Ways To Clean Clams

There are various ways to clean clams and each method will probably work fine. In the US, one popular way is to make the clams ingest cornmeal so they’ll purge the sand and grit out.

In Japan, the most common method is by soaking in simple saltwater. It may seem a little intimidating at first, but it requires very little expertise. Fishermen and home cooks all use this method and it’s the only trick I use to clean clams, too. Here’s how to do it the Japanese way.

What You’ll Need

• salt — A generous amount of salt is important to make your saltwater as close to seawater as possible. The salt concentration of seawater is about 3%.
• cold water
• flat tray (or large bowl)
• wire rack (or large sieve or strainer)
• aluminum foil
• firm brush

3 Easy Steps To Clean Clams

Here’s a quick summary; see below for detailed instructions and photos on how to do each step.

1. Make the saltwater.
2. Tap the clams with open shells to make sure they close to check if they are alive. Then, place the clams in a wire rack or sieve set in a tray or pan so the purged sand falls to the bottom of the pan. 
3. Pour in the saltwater up to the level of the clams’s mouth. Do not fully submerge in the soaking water. Let the clams purge their sand and grit with 1 hour of soaking.

To finish cleaning, the shells of clams need scrubbing with a brush under cold running water. Now they’re ready to use! After draining, put them in a bowl or tray and cover with a moist cloth or damp paper towel, refrigerate, and use within 2 days.

Clam Recipes To Try

There are plenty of great ways to cook fresh clams. They’re great shellfish to cook in Japanese seasonings as well as garlic and olive oil. Check out these recipes to enjoy restaurant-worthy clams at your own table!

• Sake Steamed Clams
• Clam Pasta
• Japanese Clear Clam Soup
• Japanese Clam Miso Soup
• Grilled Little Neck Clams

Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.

How To Clean Clams – The Best Way to Purge Sand

4.74 from 50 votes

Learn how to purge the sand and grit from fresh clams with my step-by-step guide and video. This method is the best and easiest way to clean clams for a recipe!

Print Pin

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Inactive Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1

Materials

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ clams

For 3–4% Salt Water

• ▢ 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ▢ 2 cups water

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

Before You Start…

• Live clams should be cooked within 48 hours of purchase. Even though you do not use the clams right away, it‘s important to de-grit them first as soon as you bring the clams home from the store. Keeping the clams in the refrigerator will slow them down and they may not purge sand later.

To Purge Sand from Clams

• Gather all the ingredients. Gently tap any clams with open shells and discard any clams that do not close their shells within a few minutes or that have cracked or chipped shells.
  
• To make the salt water, combine 2 cups water and 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt in a measuring cup or bowl and mix well until the salt is completely dissolved. For my setup, I doubled the ingredients to 4 cups water and 2 Tbsp kosher salt.
  
• Place a wire rack/sieve inside the large tray/bowl and put the clams in a single layer. The purged sand goes to the bottom of the rack/sieve and it will not be consumed again by the clams. Pour the salt water into the tray/bowl. The salt water should be right around the clam’s mouth. Don‘t submerge the clams under the salt water! If there isn’t enough salt water, then make more using the same ratio of water and salt. 
  
• Cover the top with aluminum foil (clams prefer to be in a quiet and dark environment), leaving some space at the corner for air. Keep it in a cool dark place for 1 hour. Clams become active when water is around 69ºF/20ºC. If you live in a hot climate, you may need to adjust the water temperature between the refrigerator and a cool place in your house. If you get your own clams from the beach, you will need about 6 hours for clams to purge sand.
  
• After 1 hour, remove the aluminum foil cover and take out the rack/sieve. Discard the dirty salt water and clean the tray/bowl.
  

To Purge the Salt from Clams

• This step is only for clams that you got from clamming yourself. Place the rack/sieve again to de-salt as the clams contain a lot of seawater. Keep the clams in the sieve and leave them at the counter for 1 hour. Without this process, the clams may taste too salty.
  

To Clean the Clams

• Wash each clam with a brush under cold running water.
  

To Use and Store

• Now the clams are ready! Put the clean clams in a bowl/tray and cover them with a damp paper towel on top. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To freeze, place the live clean clams in a plastic bag and remove the air. Store it in the freezer for 2 weeks.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 25 kcal · Carbohydrates: 1 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 1 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 9 mg · Sodium: 177 mg · Potassium: 14 mg · Vitamin A: 88 IU · Calcium: 11 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: How to

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: clam

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 01, 2011. New images have been added and the blog content has been updated.