Recently, four Eddie Bauer associates discovered the outdoor joy of clam and oyster harvesting on an afternoon outing hosted by The Field Trip Society to Sound Fresh Oysters and Clams. Renowned Chef, Langdon Cook shared a few recipes from his book, Fat of the Land, to enjoy these amazing clams!
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Manila clams
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 6 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 thumb ginger, diced
- 8 Thai bird chilies, halved & de-seeded
- 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp chili bean sauce
- 1 1/2 cup basil, chopped
Instructions
- Scrub and rinse clams.
- Combine rice wine, sugar, fish sauce, and chili bean sauce into small bowl.
- Heat oil in wok. Stir-fry garlic, ginger, and chili peppers for a minute or two over medium heat, then stir in sauce, raise heat to high, and add clams. Cover and cook until clams open, several minutes.
- When clams have opened, remove from heat and stir in basil.
Serves 2 as dinner, 4 as appetizer
Langdon Cook
Foraging is not just a throwback to our hunter-gatherer past; it’s a way to reconnect with the landscape. And Langdon Cook is not just your typical grocery cart-toting dad. For him, gourmet delicacies abound, free for the taking if we just open our eyes. As a result, he finds himself free-diving in icy Puget Sound in hopes of spearing a snaggletooth lingcod, armed with nothing more than a “Hawaiian sling.” He tempts fate by eating mushrooms that may or may not be poisonous. He strings up a fly rod to chase after sea-run trout.
He even pulls on the gardening gloves to collect stinging nettles. In wry, detailed prose, he traces his journey from wrangler of pre-packaged calories to connoisseur of coveted wild edibles. Structured around the seasons of the year, each chapter focuses on a specific food type and concludes with a recipe featuring the author’s hard-won bounty, a savory stop to each adventure-filled morsel.
Always follow regulations when harvesting shellfish
