Speaking of small seafood, the most common is a variety of "shells", which are commonly known as mollusk bivalves, and a common name is called "clams". Since the beginning of human civilization, our ancestors have had a tradition of eating shellfish, and the earliest archaeological evidence found so far is the shell mound at the Terra Amata site in the country of Hachi, about 300,000 years ago, perhaps not from Homo sapiens, but from other humans.
In our country, our ancients are also very fond of eating all kinds of clams, according to records, Song Renzong loved to eat clams, but the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Tokyo Bieliang, is not near the sea, so in the winter with fast horses to transport clams to Bieliang. Ancestors not only know how to eat clams, but also summarize what kind of clams are delicious, and there is a record of green clams "fat with purple halos in the shell mouth" in the "Zhizheng Siming Continuation". Today, we will talk about the various clams commonly found on the market and how they are eaten.
01
What clams are suitable for cooking?
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There are nearly 30,000 species of creatures in the world that can be called clams, and most of them are not suitable for human consumption, before we discuss how to eat, we must first summarize the characteristics of clams suitable for cooking!
Spicy stir-fried seafood family portrait
1. Non-toxic and harmless, some shellfish are poisonous, eating will have adverse reactions or even life-threatening, compared to eating, life is more important, can not eat to see God to go.
2. Collection conveniences, such as clams and clams that live on intertidal beaches, as well as oysters and mussels that are fixed on the reef, are among the types that are convenient for collection.
3. There is more meat, such as scallops and strips, there is a lot of meat, there are many shellfish that are small, and there is almost no meat, so there is no edible value.
4. It's easy to eat, simple to cook, it takes a lot of effort to eat, or it takes a particularly complex way of cooking to eat, something that almost no one will bother to eat.
5. If the output is large or can be artificially farmed, it is necessary to have enough output to meet the market demand, otherwise it cannot be bought if you want to eat.
02
A variety of cheapest small clams
/ Please look for them when you taste the seafood! /
Philippine curtain clam (Ruditapes philippinarum): can be said to be the largest production of clams in China at present, the general commodity name is "flower clam" or "flower shell", there are seafood markets or restaurants will generally have sales, cheap, can be said to be the most diverse culinary clams, as long as the fresh addition of onions and ginger stir-fried is a good dish, like to eat spicy onion add some pepper, how to eat delicious.
Sauce flower clams
Meretrix meretrix: also a kind of clam common in the seafood market around the world, the yield is very large, the price is also very close to the people, the taste is delicious, I once in Dalian, I once ate a clam stew tofu, tofu stewed with a low flame for a long time, out of the honeycomb, absorbed the umami taste of the clam soup, the taste is very delicious.
White-seared clams
Cyclina sinensis: Clams are also produced in large quantities, common in markets everywhere, and are eaten in the same way as flower clams, but once I had a very peculiar taste in a Western restaurant: the meat of the clams was dug up, put on a baking pan and coated with butter, sprinkled with potatoes and other side dishes and cheese, baked and then brushed with some sauce, the taste was also good.
Stir-fried clams with green onion and ginger
Corbicula aurea Heude: I think it's the tastiest of all kinds of small clams, not one of them. Yellow clams are also called clams, fresh yellow clams are a good dish when grilling, put it on the charcoal fire barbecue, roasted after the shell will automatically open, while grilling clams will produce a lot of juice, with the barbecue juice will become more and more concentrated, when roasted will be a little juice, you can sprinkle a little salt, do not put salt can also, on the juice will be clam meat together to eat into the mouth, the umami taste like a tide poured into the mouth, along the tongue all the way down ... Try it and never forget it again.
Stir-fried yellow clams with green onion and ginger
The above several small clams, cooking methods are various, frying, frying, steaming, boiling, grilling, boiling soup, boiling porridge, stuffing, drying are good, as long as it is fresh, casually cooked, are very delicious.
Rainbow cherry clam (Iridona iridescens), smooth clam (Potamocorbula laevis): commonly known as sea melon seeds, mostly found in the coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Yangtze River Delta, the individual is very small, generally about 1-3 cm, not much meat, generally fried to eat as a wine dish.
Sauté sea cucumber seeds
Bird clam (Cardiidae): the trade name bird shell, beauty legs, etc., the northern market is common is the Bulo cockle (Keenocarkium Buelowi), the southern market has a long bird tail clam, a South Sea bird tail clam, etc., the cockle foot and the previously mentioned several small clams are different, very developed, strong athleticism, cooked meat is more chewy, and the middle juice is very fresh, white seared, onion and ginger stir-fried are very delicious.
Fried bird scallops with green onion and ginger
Saxidomus purpuratus :The trade name Swan Egg is very large, and the common shells on the market are about 7 or 8 centimeters, and the single weight is more than 50 grams, and it is said that the largest individual is close to one pound. Lu cuisine has a traditional dish oil fried clam is used in this goods, this dish meat is crisp and tender, fresh and delicate.
Purple stone clams
03
Other tasty shellfish
/ Can you tell the difference! /
All kinds of clams: common clams on the market are clams and bamboo clams, Sinonovaculaconstricta is small and short, generally about 7 or 8 cm, thin shell meat, soft and tender meat, onion and ginger stir-fried or spicy stir-fried is delicious, can also be made into dried clams and clam sauce and so on.
Spicy stir-fried clams
Bamboo clams because of their large size, also known as clams king, common species are large bamboo clams (Solen grandis) and long bamboo clams (Solen strictus) two, the shell is long and thin and crisp, garlic vermicelli steaming, stir-frying, charcoal grilling, etc. are common cooking methods of bamboo clams, bamboo clams Meat is a little harder than clams, the taste is more crisp.
Garlic vermicelli bamboo clams
All kinds of scallops and straps: the common species on the market are the large Mizuhopecten yessoensis, this guy can grow bigger than the face, the price is not expensive, it is particularly refreshing to eat, generally garlic vermicelli steamed, charcoal grilling is also good; smaller scallops in the south are mainly thick shell scallops (Mimachlamys crassicostata), the northern market is more common is the Azumapecten farreri . There are also Bay scallops (Argopecten irradians) imported from the United States, which are directly steamed with smaller specifications, while larger ones are also eaten as garlic vermicelli or grilled. Jiang Jue is commonly known as the belt, the more common on the market is China Jiang Jue (Atrina chinensis), its closed shell muscle is also very large, fresh is also suitable for cooking with garlic vermicelli and other ways, and Cantonese cuisine is commonly used in Jiang Jue's dried products Yao zhu flavor, scallop closed shell muscle dry, the appearance and Yao zhu is very similar, the general commodity named dried shellfish to show the difference.
Garlic vermicelli Ezo scallops
Charcoal grilled Ezo scallops
Both shellfish are very developed and cylindrical in the closed shell muscle, so they are also called shell columns. Scallop is a common name for a variety of sea fan clam species, scallop closed shell muscle taste mild and sweet, and the meat is very large, in the breeding season the reproductive glands will expand, the taste is better, the price is also cheap, but also a very close seafood on the market.
Closed shell muscles and reproductive glands of Ezo scallops (females)
Mussels: Mussels mainly live in the intertidal zone or shallow water areas, common far eastern mussels (Modiohus kurilensis), emerald mussels (Perna viridis) and thick shell mussels (Mytilus unguiculatus), etc., the trade name is also called the south called mussels, the north is called haihong, there are many other common names, mussels are also very rich, stir-frying, steaming, roasting, making soups and other methods are good, you can also take the meat out and dry it.
Oysters: oysters, also known as oysters, commonly known on the market is large oysters (Crassostrea gigas), the production is very large, oyster meat is tender and sweet, garlic steaming, charcoal grilling, soup and other ways are delicious, and the most famous way to eat oysters is to eat raw. The first time I heard about raw oysters was in the text of the language textbook "My Uncle Hule", raw oysters do not need to add any spices, only need to squeeze a little lemon juice, and the oysters used for raw food can not be too large, the size of the duck egg is just right, because the oysters are too big to swallow.
Fans are oysters
Blood cockles: blood cockles (Tegillarca granosa) is also known as one of the most popular haixian in the southern market, the production is very large, because cooking will flow red liquid, much like blood so named, there is a way to eat is to choose about 3 cm specifications of blood cockles, with boiling water a hot, on the dip condiment to eat, eat the meat is very crisp, the taste is delicate and sweet, in Fujian Fuding there is a kind of cockle, in the breeding period there is a pair of "small wings" locals will pick it out at a high price.
Blood cockles, mesmerizing snacks
Elephant mussel: Panopea generosa, commonly known as elephant clam, is a kind of high-grade seafood that has become popular in recent years, because the origin of this product is the west coast of the United States, and the time to come to China is not long. The clams mentioned earlier, mainly eat the meat in the shell, or axe feet, closed shell muscles or reproductive glands, but the elephant mussels are more special, we usually eat the elephant clams mainly eat the meat of his siphon, and to remove the hard skin, only eat the inner tender meat, generally cut into thin slices directly sashimi, or white burning, stir-frying, soup boiling porridge taste good. The flesh of the elephant mussel is fresh and slightly sweet, and it is tough to eat.
Treatment of elephant mussels