There’s no better way to cook mussels and clams than steaming, and the reason is simple. When these shellfish cook, they release flavorful juices. If you steam them with a small amount of liquid, like wine, the juices drip down to the bottom of the pot and combine with the steaming liquid to become a shellfish broth with incredible flavor. The resulting dish—shellfish served in its own broth—is so tasty and easy to prepare that the hardest thing about it for most people is finding good, fresh shellfish.

封闭的贝壳是新鲜的标志

购买贻贝和蛤s时，请考虑尺寸和新鲜度。如果您是贻贝的新手，请购买小贻贝。小贻贝通常是栽培的，含有很少的沙子，比野生堂兄的腥味较少。当您在鱼柜台上发现贻贝时，它们应该完全关闭或略微张开。一旦您手里拿着它们，就把鼻子伸入袋子里，然后闻一口气。如果它们闻起来像海洋之外的其他东西，请把它们还给他们，然后尝试另一个鱼贩，或者计划烹饪其他东西。

蒸笼，小块和樱桃石是蒸的最佳蛤s。There are two basic types of clams to choose from: soft and hard. Soft-shell clams—a misnomer because their shells aren’t soft at all—have a small necklike siphon sticking out between their shells. They’re also known as steamers. Because of their siphons, softshell clams can’t close all the way, so to check for freshness, touch the siphon; it should pull in slightly.

The most widely available hard-shell clams are Atlantic clams, also known as quahogs (pronounced koh-hogs). The smallest quahogs are called littlenecks. Even though they’re the smallest, they’re also the most expensive because they have the sweetest flavor and are very tender. Medium-size quahogs are known as cherrystones, and the largest quahogs are called chowder clams. As with mussels, look for hard-shell clams that are firmly shut and have a clean sea scent.

When you get your mussels or hard-shell clams home, let them breathe.如果他们进一个（他们被塑料窒息），将它们放在碗中，用湿毛巾盖住，然后将它们存放在冰箱中，将它们从袋子中取出。尽管最好将它们尽可能地煮熟，但它们最多可以保留两天。无论您做什么，都不要将它们浸泡在水中 - fresh水会杀死它们并浸出它们的味道。

由于软壳蛤ho开了盖，因此不可避免地会充满沙子，应鼓励在烹饪前清洗自己。将它们浸泡在冷盐水中（1杯盐至3夸脱水）过夜或至少几个小时，通常会照顾沙子。然后它们可以像硬壳蛤一样存储。

Shortly before you’re ready to start steaming, scrub the mussels or clams with a stiff brush under cold running water to get rid of the grit that otherwise will end up in your sauce. If the mussels have big “beards”—black hairlike fibers that enable them to cling to things—use your thumb and forefinger to yank them off.

蒸之前消除任何死蛤或贻贝because a bad one can ruin the whole batch. Look for any mussels that have opened and tap them on the kitchen counter. If they don’t close, discard them. For closed mussels, press on the sides of the two shells in opposing directions. Dead mussels will fall apart.

Clams should all still be firmly shut. If some have started to open, give them a tap. If they don’t snap shut relatively quickly, throw them away.

将贝类中的贝类蒸

学习一种简单的技术，然后改变口味

法国人对贻贝很生气，已经在著名且易于准备的菜肴中蒸了多年moules à la marinière—mussels steamed with white wine, shallots, and parsley. Clams are also marvelous when given theMarinièretreatment.

The technique is ridiculously simple. All you have to do is concoct a flavorful steaming liquid out of wine,
啤酒或其他液体以及一些芳香成分，例如大蒜，葱和草药。您将蒸的液体煮几分钟以发展其风味，然后加入贻贝或蛤s，盖盖，直到贝类打开。

贝类煮熟后，您可以将它们转移到碗中，然后将其浇在肉汤上，或将肉汤与浓奶油，黄油或橄榄油（尤其适合意大利面）结合在一起，将汤转换为更经典的调味料。自制的aïoli（大蒜蛋黄酱）被搅拌入肉汤也很棒。

完成后moules à la marinière，您可以在很少的努力中发明变化。加入大蒜，西红柿，藏红花，生姜，浸泡和变软的干辣椒，咖喱粉（用小黄油煮30秒以释放其味道）或新鲜草药，例如龙龙，花香，香菜，巴斯勒或玛乔拉姆 - 单独使用或组合。对于泰式变化，在蒸汽液体中加入少许鱼露，柠檬草和热辣椒，然后在贻贝完成后用椰奶富含汤。

Turn the steaming liquid into a sauce

如果一个人不打开怎么办？

如果您蒸贻贝并发现一个人没有打开，那几乎总是很糟糕。蛤有点棘手。对于您蒸汽的每十二蛤，您可能会发现一个不会打开的蛤。不要以为它很糟糕，然后把它扔掉。取而代之的是，在贝壳之间粘一把刀，然后稍微扭曲。十分之九，蛤lam打开，非常好（如果您不确定，请嗅探）。

If you steamed soft shell clams, beware the siphon; it’s covered with a gritty black sheath that you don’t want to eat. The easiest way to deal with it is to pick up the cooked clam by its siphon and pull away the sheath as you eat the clam.