This is one of my personal favorite seafood Petiscos! With the exception of maybe boiled Percebes (Goose Barnacles), that funny looking seafood treat, Ameijoas à Bulhão (Bulhão Pato Clams) is the most authentic way of enjoying that distinct flavor of sea that you can only get from seafood.
The trick is not trying to get too fancy while preparing this treat. Four ingredients (and some lemon juice) are enough: fresh clams, olive oil, coriander and garlic. No more, no less!
After ensuring that the fresh clams rested in salty water for a few hours, so they can release all the sand trapped inside, you need to wash them several times in water.
Cooking them is actually quite simple:
- Heat the olive oil, add the crushed garlic, a bunch coriander and the clams;
- Cover the pan and cook them on high heat until their shells open.
- Squeeze some lemon juice on top and enjoy with some toasted bread.
Done! Simple, tasty and wonderful…
There are variants to this recipe that use white wine and/or butter to get the sauce that the clams leave even richer. I prefer to enjoy mine without that final touch and feel the natural flavor of the clams. But, in the end, it’s a question of personal taste…
An extra tip: make sure you have enough bread to soak up all that sauce in the end, when all the clams are gone… It’s in the sauce that you will find most of the flavor!
Quite simple and fast, right? As you can see, if you have a bunch of clean and sand-free clams, this is a Petisco that you can prepare in just a few minutes and that will grant you a standing ovation!
This process is also used to cook “Cadelinhas”, which is a very famous Petisco. This is mostly enjoyed during the summer season since it’s quite easy (and fun) to catch these bean clams while you are appreciating a day at beach. Just stick your feet in the sand, twist them around and wait for the dinner to float to you… : ) Like I said, fun and simple.
Join us at Homecooking Lisbon and learn how to prepare Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato and many other Petiscos. Book now our Portuguese Petiscos Cooking Class and embark on a complete, step-by-step, hands-on cooking class that will provide you with the tips and tricks to cook many of our most famous Petiscos!
Amêijoa à Bulhão Pato (Bulhão Pato Clams)
Equipment
- Pan
Ingredients
- 1 kg clams
- 100 ml olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- 150 g coriander chopped
- 1 lemon
- salt as needed
Instructions
- Let the clams rest for 2 hours in a pan with salted water, so they can release the sand
- On a large pan, heat the the olive oil and add garlic
- Add the coriander and the clams
- Season with salt and stir everything
- Close with a lit and cook in medium heat, until the clams open their shells
- Sprinkle with the juice from half lemon. Slice the remaining lemon and decorate the dish
- Serve with toasted bread