How to choose clams

Clams have high nutritional value, high content of amino acids and protein, and delicious meat, and are loved by many people. Clams are most commonly found in many food stalls, and there are many different ways to cook them. The important thing is that clams are not very difficult to cook. Many people like to eat clams and hope to cook them by themselves, but they don’t know how to choose. So, how do you choose clams? Let’s take a look at the selection method below.

Nutritional value of clams

The meat is delicious and nutritious, with high protein content, and a reasonable composition and ratio of amino acids; it has a low fat content, high unsaturated fatty acids, is easily digested and absorbed by the human body, and contains various vitamins and medicinal ingredients. It contains various essential trace elements for the human body, such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, etc. It can be used as human nutrition and green food, and is deeply favored by consumers. Clam meat and shellfish mollusks contain Dalta 7-cholesterol and 24-methylene cholesterol, which have the effect of lowering serum cholesterol. They have the unique function of inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver and accelerating the excretion of cholesterol, thereby reducing cholesterol in the body. They are more effective than the commonly used cholesterol-lowering drug sitosterol.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that clam meat has the effects of nourishing yin, improving eyesight, softening hard masses, and resolving phlegm. Some shellfish also have the effect of nourishing essence and moistening internal organs. Everyone can eat it. It is especially suitable for people with high cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, and those suffering from goiter, bronchitis, stomach problems and other diseases.

At the same time, how to choose and clean clams?

How to choose clams

Choose clams that open their mouths to breathe. When buying clams, choose those that open their mouths to breathe. Such live clams taste more delicious. Also, try to choose those that are fully stretched so that they can spit out sand more evenly.

Don't choose the ones with open shells. Some clams have opened their shells, which means they are dead. These clams will have a fishy smell after being fried, which affects the taste. Therefore, special attention should be paid when choosing.

The clams in supermarkets are better than those sold on street vendors. After buying some clams and comparing them, I found that although those in supermarkets are more expensive than those sold on street vendors, they have no peculiar smell when eaten. This is mainly because the supermarkets use salt water and constantly supply oxygen, and are better processed. The clams sold on street vendors have been around for a long time and many of them are dead.

Choose larger clams. Large clams have more meat and taste better. So try to choose a larger one.

How to clean clams

Soak in warm salt water: First, put the clams in a basin of warm water, and add salt and oil to the warm water. The amount depends on the water in the basin. This method can imitate the growth environment of clams, allowing them to open their shells and spit out sand. The purpose of adding oil is to form an oil film on the water surface, which can separate the water from the air, causing the clams to lack oxygen in the water and breathe faster, thereby speeding up the process of spitting out sand. Then, after standing for two to three hours, we will see that most of the clams have opened their shells and the water becomes turbid. At this time, the process of the clams spitting out the sand is completed. If we want to shorten the time it takes for the clams to spit out the sand, we can stir the water in the basin back and forth with our hands and change the water repeatedly, so that the clams can spit out all the sand and mud in a few minutes.

Boiling and rinsing: If you think the first method is too time-consuming, then let’s learn a quick way to remove mud and sand. First, fill the pot with water and put the clams in to boil. When the water in the pot boils, the shells of the clams are basically open. At this time, pour out the water and rinse the clams with water to clean up the mud and sand. However, this method can easily affect the freshness of the clams. We can let the water used to boil the clams cool down, filter out the mud and sand deposited at the bottom, and use the clarified water to wash the clams, so as to retain some of the freshness.