How to Clean Razor Clams
Razor clams are some of the best eating clams in the Pacific Northwest and perhaps the world. Like other shellfish, razor clams should be cooked and not eaten raw. In addition, razor clams must be cleaned before cooking. Cleaning is a fairly simple process and you end up with using almost the entire clam ready to cook.
The first step in cleaning is removing the shell. The easiest way to accomplish is to first rinse all sand from your clams. After placing your clams in a colander or in the sink, pour boiling water over them long enough to cause shells to "pop" open (5-10 seconds) Do not soak in boiling water as meat will become tough. Immediately place
clams in cold tap water and remove meat from shell. Another way is to cut the
four muscle attachments of the paired adductor muscles by running a sharp knife
along the inner surface of each shell.
The next step is to remove the tip of the siphon, gills and digestive tract - the dark parts of the clam. You can either use a sharp knife or scissors.
