Friday, January 22, 2016

Chorizo Steamed Clams – How Do You Say “Ubiquitous” in Spanish?

I have always just called these chorizo steamed clams, "Spanish Clams," since it seems like there’s some variation of this on every Spanish restaurant menu I’ve ever seen.

What better evidence for a dishes’ deliciousness than that? Not to generalize about an entire culture, but the Spanish simply don’t put non-amazing things on every menu.

Sometimes they use beer, or white wine, or sherry; and many varieties of clams can be used; but the common denominator is the spicy, Spanish-style chorizo. Using such a flavorful sausage is sort of like cheating, and one of the main reasons the ingredient list is so short.

Speaking of which, you can really adapt this kind of thing to your tastes. Cilantro instead of parsley, leeks instead of onions, and mussels instead of clams, just to name a few. Just make sure you have plenty of grilled, or toasted bread around to soak up the glorious broth. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 4 appetizers, or 2 larger entrée size portions:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced onions
3 ounces Spanish chorizo, quartered, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups white wine
3 pounds Little Neck clams
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons butter
grilled bread to garnish

14 comments:

Lisa from Indiana said...

Would that grilled bread be leftover Bahn-mi?

SS4Kokoro said...

You use "ubicuso" to say ubiquitous in Spanish. :D

Unknown said...

You misspelled sausage in the title of the video!

arwiv said...

Its pretty much impossible to screw up clams especially done in a Spanish/Portuguese style as is the case here....simple and delicious. Which reminds me....time for a picadinho recipe. I know how to make my own but Im sure many posters here who arent familiar with it would love it.

Chris K. said...

The Spanish word is "ubicuo." De nada.

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

buh-bye hairy knuckles, hello commercials!

Anonymous said...

Okay....Carolina vs. Denver (BOOOOOOOO!)

Highly unsatisfied. I need more chicken wing/appetizer recipes! Please and thank you!

And don't forget to roll them bones. I want how badly Denver bites it!!

Divtal said...

Chef John,

I don't know if you publish comments with commercial mentions. As I can't recall seeing any on your blog, I assume you don't. However, there's a store in SF that you might like to know about ... if you don't, already.

I have no vested interest in the store. I just discovered it in the neighborhood.

"The Spanish Table," opened in November on Clement St., between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, in the Inner Richmond. They carry Spanish spices, meats, rice/pasta, cheeses, condiments, oils etc., an array of cookware ... and, of course, wines. There is, also, some "outreach" to Portuguese and Moroccan ingredients and wines.

Unknown said...

Chef, Do you think I could add some heavy cream to this?

Vajonna said...

I made this tonight, and can I justr say, it came out awesome!! I unfortunately had a couple clams that never opened, but we still had more than enough for my husband and I to enjoy for dinner :) So delicious, I'm planning to make this for my father asap who loves clams, but I think we're going to switch to muscles because he loves those even more :) I'll update how it turns out! <3 Thank you Chef John!! You're my favorite! (I always look to your recipes first when I want to make something new)

Anonymous said...

If you've seen this dish in every Spanish restaurant, then they're either not in Spain, not run by Spaniards or they're just trying to give tourist what they think "typical Spanish food" is. We're not as obssessed with chorizo as foreigners seem to think. Yes, we eat it. As an appetizer, as a tapa, as a snack. But we don't put add it to every single dish! Clams with chorizo? paella with chorizo? Come on! To me those come close to being culinary sins. The most popular way to eat clams in Spain is in "salsa verde" (green sauce with parsley and white wine) or "a la marinera".

Divtal said...

I didn't see/hear any reference to this recipe being typical Spanish fare, or that it is common in Spanish restaurants, but clams with "salsa verde," and "a la marinera," both sound delicious.

I share your point that America has grasped chorizo, created a fad, and possibly over-applied it. However, in the presentation Chef John clearly states that another sausage, or spicy meat, would work well in the recipe.






Jegan said...

**Must Purge Clams**

I'm a long time follower and I love this blog not only because of the amazing recipes but because chef John never fails give us background on preparation techniques and tries to make cooking as "fool proof" as possible. However, I was utterly disappointed with this dish.

To be fair the flavor of the final product was delectable however, it was inedible due to the amount of sand present in the dish. In addition to washing the clams thoroughly they must be purged. Make sure to do this before preparation or else you're in for a huge disappointment.