Seafood clams are a traditional dish of Spanish cuisine and when done well, they are a true delight. Jaime de las Heras, who knows everything about gastronomy, says that seafood-style clams are “an easy way to show off, but they need love and good ingredients.” You are right.
The first thing the best chefs agree on is that you need a quality product. The better clams, the better dish. The second thing is that there are four essential ingredients to make them: white wine, garlic, chilli and sweet paprika. Although there are chefs who add two more things, a little onion and natural tomato.
For Dani García, a good sauce to make some clams a la marinara also has that onion and tomato, as he explained in his program on RTVE. What he never puts in is fumet or fish broth. “I'm one of those who thinks that when you make clams, the fumet is what's inside the clam, you don't need anything else. Let the clam release its broth,” he says. According to Martin Berasategui, “garlic, onion, white wine and tomato create a tasty and aromatic sauce,” perfect for clams.
We start by cleaning the clams well, letting them soak to remove any sand they may have. The recipe starts with a stir-fry that we start by putting a well-minced clove of garlic, with the onion cut into brunoise and the chilli. When the onion is poached, we add a grated natural tomato and let it sauté well with patience and love. Then we add a teaspoon of sweet paprika and another of flour so that the sauce thickens.
When the flour has cooked slightly, all we have to do is add the white wine and let it reduce by half, as García indicates, so that there is no wine flavor left. “We raise the heat and add the clam so that it does its job, but it is essential to cover them so that they open faster with the steam,” explains the Cádiz chef. He takes them out as they open to prevent them from overcooking. Then you just have to adjust the salt in the sauce and prepare bread because this recipe calls for dipping.
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