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1
Rub the clam shells together, and rinse them in water.
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2
Set a colander inside a bowl.
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3
Add the clams and 3% salt water.
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Cover with a lid or something and leave for 1 hour to overnight.
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5
(Use a little more water in weight than the clams.)
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6
The clams will all open up like this, which is fun.
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7
It depends on the type of Manila clams you are using, but you'll see a lot of sand and dirt has dropped to the bottom of the bowl.
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8
It feels good to see it gone!
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9
Rinse the clams again, and drain them for a while in a colander.
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10
When they have drained and expelled the salt water, you can use them in any dish you like, safe in the knowledge that they're nice and clean.
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11
A bonus recipe!
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12
Put the cleaned clams in plastic bags and freeze.
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13
You can use them as-is without defrosting in your recipes.
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14
The main photo shows 500 g of clams with 500 ml of water + 150 g of salt.
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15
I froze half of them.
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16
Whenever I see Manila clams on sale, or when they go on sale in the evenings near closing tiem, I buy a lot and freeze them.
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17
One more!
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18
When you buy Manila clams, try shaking the packs.
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19
The ones that makes a heavy sound are healthy ones.
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If they make a light empty sound they're not that good.
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21
You can treat surf clams (hamaguri) in the same way - they'll come out of their shells like this!
