Fried Whole Belly Clams

Fried Whole Belly Clams

If you’re a fan of fried seafood (and who isn’t?), you’re gonna want to make a batch of these fried whole belly clams. To make them in the traditional New England style use Ipswich clams (a.k.a. Steamers or soft-shell clams) and use the whole clam bellies, strips and cleaned neck. Frying the clams is the easy part, but I’m also sharing a much easier method on how to shuck clams. Don’t forget the simple tartar sauce. Are you ready?

Fresh soft shell or Ipswich clams in a colander.

As you may already know, our Super Bowl tradition is to serve foods that are indigenous to the regions of the country where the two competing teams are from. This makes the event more enjoyable for me (because I really don’t give two hoots about football) and the entire family gets into planning the menu.

This year, it’s the LA Rams and New England (again). In the not-so-distant past, we’ve celebrated New England with Authentic New England Clam Chowder, Clam Chowda Pizza, and Connecticut Lobster Rolls – and now I give you Fried Whole Belly Clams with Simple Tartar Sauce.  

These are a New England summer favorite, folks (as demonstrated by the multitude of clam shacks dotting the Northeastern coast) — and while I was leary about where to find the clams, they had them at our local fishmonger, Pop’s Seafood.

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Soaking soft shell clams in fresh water.

Let’s talk about the clams. I found it very confusing when looking at fried clam recipes to determine what type of clam everyone was talking about.  Websites bandied about vernacular like  steamers, soft shell clams, Maine clams and Ipswich clams.  Turns out they’re all pretty much the same variety of clam (the biggest difference being from where they come from).

Having come from Virginia, I thought a soft shell clam would have a “soft shell”. Not. The shells are just thinner and more brittle than traditional little neck clams and other varieties.

Clam Anatomy

There are three main components to the clam.

  • Belly – The belly (the most tender part of the clam) is the soft, round center of the clam.
  • Strip – Clam strips refer to the loose hanging piece under the belly.
  • Neck (Siphon) The neck is actually the chewy and kinda gross part that protrudes outside of the clam.

A whole belly clam refers to the entire clam insides (belly, strip and neck) and that’s what we’re making today.

Once you’ve obtained the clams, you want to give them a good soak in fresh water.  This allows them to naturally discharge some of the sand and grit that they may have in their siphons (neck) and loosen it from the outer shell.

shucked whole belly clams

Once I understood the basics, I felt more confident about my task… at least until it came time to shuck the clams…

How to Shuck Clams

So here’s the skinny on how to shuck clams… These bivalves are not interested in becoming your game-day meal, so prying them apart with your bare hands will prove a battle of wills, that, trust me, the clam will win. So, how do you get to the briny mollusk? I watched a multitude of You Tube videos and these two were comprehensive.

How To Shuck Clams Two Ways:

Not my favorite, but it works…

  1. Cut through the muscle on either side of the clam next to the hinge. Once the muscle has been cut, there’s nothing holding it shut and it’s easier to open.
  2. Run your knife around the clam to free it from the shell.
  3. Remove the unsightly outer membrane from the neck (the dark black portion of the clam).
  4. Slit the neck vertically and check for any grit or sand.
  5. Transfer the clams to a clean bowl of cool water and rinse several times to ensure no grit is evident.

By far, the easiest method…

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
  2. Add the clams and let them blanch in the water for about 20 seconds (this won’t kill the clams, but it’ll relax them, like a hot sauna would relax you.) Click here  to see how we did it.
  3. Drain the hot water and immediately plunge them into cool water.  Swish with your fingers to help dislodge sand and grit (there’s a lot of it with these guys — cause they live in the mud).
  4. Remove a clam from the water and gently pull apart the shell — click here to watch how super easy it is.
  5. Scoop the whole belly clam from the shell with your fingers.
  6. Pull on the outer layer of the neck (the nasty bits) and discard the membrane. Cut the black tip on the neck, it’s the chewiest part of the clam. Not all people do this, but I recommend it.
  7. Transfer the whole belly clams to a bowl of fresh clean water and give them a swirl to dislodge the grit.  Now they’re ready to use.
dredge for fried clams.

The rest is easy.

To fry whole belly clams, you’ll want a simple dredge.  The classic formula combines flour and corn flour with salt and cayenne pepper (optional). I had never heard of corn “flour” before and mistakenly thought it referred to Masa Harina.  It doesn’t.  

Corn flour is commonly known as “fish fry,” and you can find it in the grocery store near the flour and cornmeal section…. however, if you have fine ground cornmeal in your pantry (and I always do), you can also use that.  The cornmeal will add crunch to these savory, chewy Ipswich clams. The dunking batter is simply milk, buttermilk and eggs all whisked together.

Soaking clams in buttermilk mixture, then dipping them in corn flour mixture.

Dunk your clams in the buttermilk mixture and one by one transfer them to the cornmeal blend to dredge.

frying clams in a deep fryer and removing fried whole belly clams with a spider.

Then carefully tuck them into the hot oil.  These whole belly clams cook in about 1-2 minutes.  They will be golden and gorgeous on the outside with a pleasant briny bite.

Draining clam bellies on a paper bag.

Transfer the fried clams to a sheet pan lined with craft paper (or heavy duty paper bags) to drain. Season lightly with salt after they’ve come out of the fryer.

making tartar sauce from scratch.

Ingredients For Simple Tartar Sauce

  • Mayonnaise
  • Dill Pickles
  • Capers
  • Dijon Mustard
  • Lemon Zest
  • Lemon Juice
  • Dill
  • Black Pepper
  • Kosher Salt
  • Sugar

Serve the clams with tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. I hear they sell bottled tartar sauce in the grocery store, but honestly, I’d rather mix it up myself.  This simple tartar sauce blend takes about 5 minutes to make — though you should make it before you start on the clams. You don’t want your hot clams getting cold while your mixing the sauce and besides,  making the tartar sauce in advance allows the flavors to marry.

Serving fried whole belly clams with french fries, tartar sauce and lemon.

The traditional New England clam shacks complete the meal with a bed of french fries. I can attest that they go together well — though, I admit to accidentally dunking a clam into ketchup and fries into the tartar sauce on a few occasions. You can’t blame me, it’s all so good!

Fried clam bellies in a basket with fries, lemon and tartar sauce.

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4.57 from 23 votes

Fried Whole Belly Clams

Crispy golden fried clams are crunchy, chewy and a little bit briny — all in one bite. Great with homemade tartar sauce and fries.
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword clams, seafood, shellfish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

INGREDIENTS:

FOR FRIED CLAMS

  • 72 whole belly clams in their shell (aka: steamers, Maine clams or Ipswich clams) (about 18 clams per person)
  • 1 cup corn flour (also sold as fish fry or use fine ground cornmeal)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt plus more to season after frying
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 large egg

FOR TARTAR SAUCE

  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle
  • 1 teaspoon chopped capers
  • 1 teaspoon whole grain Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
  • teaspoons lemon juice
  • ¾ teaspoon chopped fresh dill
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • peanut oil for frying

SERVE WITH:

  • lemon wedges
  • tartar sauce (recipe given)
  • french fries

DIRECTIONS:

MAKE THE SIMPLE TARTAR SAUCE

  • In a small bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk together.  Cover and refrigerate.

SHUCK THE IPSWICH CLAMS

  • We tried several methods to shuck the clams and by far, this was the easiest for us….
  • Place the clams in a large bowl and rinse them several times with cold water to wash away the grit and sand on their shells.  Cover the clams with fresh cold water and let them sit for 20 minutes so that they can expunge any excess grit in their siphons.
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Drain the clams and add them to the pot. Blanch the clams for 20 seconds, then immediately drain the water off of them.  Transfer the clams to a fresh bowl filled with cold water to stop the cooking.
  • Pry the shell open with your fingers (this would be impossible to do if you didn’t blanch them first.) Remove the clam and locate the black protruding neck (actually a siphon that they use to filter their food). 
  • Go to the base of the “neck” and pull the outer layer or membrane from the clam and discard. Cut the tip of the black siphon off and discard. Transfer the shucked clam (this includes the neck, belly and strip) to a bowl of fresh water. Continue to shuck the clams in this fashion.
  • Change the water several times to make sure the grit has been removed from the clams and set aside.

MAKE THE FRY BLEND:

  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, corn flour (or fine cornmeal), salt and cayenne pepper and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Use another medium bowl to combine the milk, buttermilk and egg with a whisk until well blended.

FRYING THE CLAMS:

  • Heat 2-3 inches of peanut oil in a deep fryer to 375°. Line a baking sheet with craft paper, newspaper or brown paper bags to soak up the oil.
  • Dip the clams into the egg mixture and then toss them individually in the corn flour blend to coat.
  • Fry the clams in batches with no more than 8-10 clams per batch. Cook each batch for 1-2 minutes or until the clams are crispy and golden. Using a spider, transfer the clams to the paper lined baking sheet to cool.  Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt.  Continue frying and seasoning the clams in this manner.

TO SERVE THE FRIED WHOLE BELLY CLAMS:

  • Serve the clams with simple tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. Most New England clam shacks also serve them with french fries… I used a frozen bag of Alexia fries and crisped them in a convection oven… worked great!

NUTRITION:

Calories: 519kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 1285mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 400IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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If you're a fan of fried whole belly clams, make them at home. Find out how to shuck clams and fry them for this classic New England specialty. #wholebellyclams #howtoshuckclams #ipswichclams

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22 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    great recipe…nice seasoning, onion rings go well with fries, one hour from the NH coast. when you can’t afford lobster this hits the spot.

  2. 5 stars
    I’m from Boston and grew up eating this delicious treats! My condiment is tarter sauce! Enjoy!!

  3. 5 stars
    very good tartar sauce recipe. i tried a gluten free variation of the batter substituting flour with Bob’s Red Mill baking flour and it worked well. we fried bar clams from the sand flats out front of our cottage, scallops from Digby and Malpeque oysters from PEI…it was a super tasty meal for sure.
    Malcolm Macartney
    Tidnish Nova Scotia

  4. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe, I adjusted the tarter sauce adding finely chopped onion and lots more capers, best I have ever had! I read other reviews and one said in New England we use vinegar instead of tarter sauce, I must say I never heard of that in Maine.

  5. 5 stars
    Here in New England sometimes we use VINEGAR instead of tarter sauce for the clams and fries. (chips)

  6. Patricia Roberts says:

    5 stars
    We love fresh seafood and my husband will eat a fried boot if I make it. But we had a gift of fresh Bar clams from our daughter’s boyfriend’s parents and so I wanted a coating to fry the clams that wasn’t going to take away from the fabulous fresh sea flavour ot the clams. This recipe is perfect. I used a coarser ground flour and that was a mistake. You need the fine ground cornmeal flour for the flavour and the non crunchy texture. It’s so easy!! AND I LOVED the tartar sauce. Make sure you use fresh dill. PERFECT companion for the fish and I even dipped my home made french fries into it.
    It’s a 10 from us. Thanks Lisa.

    1. Jimmy Snow says:

      5 stars
      Good evening Patricia Roberts and I hope all is well. Your reference to fried boot made me reply. I hope you don’t mind. I was also a husband that said I would eat a boot if deep fried by my sweetheart. If you have no objections, I would love to review your recipe. If not, please have a wonderful week!

  7. 5 stars
    The clams you are describing are softshell clams or steamers. If the clams are freshly harvested, the bellies will be full of mud. If you have access to clean saltwater, you can take a 5 gallon bucket and put 5-10 lbs of yellow corn meal and 3 gal seawater, add the clams and let sit overnight. The clams will gorge themselves with the cornmeal and purge themselves of the mud. Instant stuffed clams. If you use hardshell clams such as cherrystone, littlenecks, or mahogany clams this is not necessary as they do not ingest the mud. They just filter the water for food like mussels or oysters. The reason that fried clams are considered a summertime treat is because the water is too cold for most harvesters during the winter months. Me, I dig clams year round here in Long Island Sound.

    1. Yes, I mentioned them being called soft-shell clams or steamers in the post. Unless you’re from that area, it can be a confusing distinction. Thanks for your tips on cleaning them and the difference between them and hardshell clams. That’s great info!

  8. 5 stars
    I live in the Boston area and find this a pretty decent recipe. I would like to mention a few local suggestions. Many people instead of just rinsing the clams in fresh water, cover the clams in a bowl with fresh water and add approx 1/4 cup of corn meal to the water and refrig over night, this is ingested in the clam, irritates their stomach and forces them to remove more sand and grit leaving a much cleaner stomach. And you were right, the neck gets cut off just before it starts turning black. lastly, almost every clam shack I am aware of uses evaporated milk instead of milk and or butter milk.

    1. Cathy Jones-Hatcher says:

      Evaporated milk! ? Wow… must try that! Thanks for the tip…I have just recently tried making fried clams at home( since they are no where to be found in Va!) and used a very similar recipe to the one here, but there was no egg in the batter. I will try that too!
      The batter also works well for scallops! YUM!

  9. Lynn Southwell says:

    New England born and bred but living on the Gulf Coast of Fla.for 38 years.Can’t get full bellied steamer clams here,but I can order them,which I did!They arrive tomorrow from Gloucester,cold packed and as fresh as I can get.Got the frier out and all the ingredients.Can’t wait!Bye the wy,GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Hi Lynne! Oh you’re in for a treat! I live in South Eastern Florida, but we head to the Gulf Coast all the time — it’s beautiful. Hope you enjoy the clams!

  10. I love fried seafood, but I have never had fried clams – its just not a thing where I live. Thank you for the excellent tutorial! I love clams in pasta, and I would love to try making fried clams at home.

    1. To be fair, it’s not a “thing” here either, but I figured I had to go the extra mile for the Patriots.

  11. 5 stars
    How fun that your whole family participates in planning the Super Bowl menu. Love that. I’d say you have one lucky family if this is what they’ll be munching on this Sunday. (Go Rams!) And your tarter sauce recipe sounds superb!

  12. 5 stars
    I want a big basket of these clams ASAP! The homemade tartar sauce sure takes then to another level too.

    1. Thanks, Sharon! I’m so glad you like them!

  13. Oh boy, these clams have me wishing it was warm and sunny out because I would love a great big plate of these out on my back porch. Yum!

    1. I know, they’d be perfect in the summertime, too. That said, they weren’t bad in the dead of January!

  14. 5 stars
    Yum! This reminds me of when I lived back East – Tartar sauce is the tastiest!