Clam Cake

New England–Style Clam Cakes

A classic Rhode Island snack — crisp, golden fritters with a creamy, briny clam flavor inside. Best eaten hot with tartar sauce or a squeeze of lemon.

Prep

15 min

Cook

15 min

Total

30 min

Serves

4 (about 16 cakes)

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• •8 g (2 tsp) baking powder
• •4 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
• •2 g (½ tsp) freshly ground black pepper
• •1 g (¼ tsp) baking soda
• •2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• •240 ml (1 cup) whole milk, room temperature
• •15 ml (1 Tbsp) clam juice, from the canned clams
• •340 g (12 oz) chopped clams, drained, canned minced clams (2 cans), or fresh steamed quahogs — see parasite note in steps
• •30 g (¼ cup) finely chopped yellow onion, optional but traditional
• •15 ml (1 Tbsp) fresh chopped parsley, optional
• •700 ml (3 cups) neutral frying oil, vegetable, canola, or peanut oil

Steps

1. 1 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper.
2. 2 In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and reserved clam juice until smooth.
3. 3 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined — a few lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
4. 4 Gently fold in the chopped clams, onion, and parsley. The batter should be thick but droppable, roughly the consistency of thick pancake batter. Let it rest for 10 minutes while the oil heats.
5. 5 If using fresh clams (quahogs): harvest/clean them, steam until just open, remove the meat, and freeze the chopped clam meat at −20 °C (0 °F) or below for at least 7 days before using; this is required to kill parasites. Canned clams are already safe.
6. 6 Heat 1.5 cm (¾ inch) of oil in a heavy skillet or Dutch oven to 180 °C / 350 °F. Maintain this temperature — too cool and the cakes absorb oil; too hot and they brown before cooking through.
7. 7 Drop batter by heaping tablespoons (about 30 g / 2 Tbsp per cake) into the hot oil, leaving space between each. Fry 4–5 cakes at a time without crowding.
8. 8 Fry for about 2 minutes per side, turning once, until deeply golden brown. The internal temperature of a finished cake should reach at least 74 °C / 165 °F on an instant-read thermometer, and the clam pieces should be fully opaque with no translucent flesh.
9. 9 Transfer to a paper-towel–lined plate to drain and keep warm while you fry the remaining batter (about 3 batches total).
10. 10 Serve immediately with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, a squeeze of lemon, or a splash of malt vinegar. Eat hot — the creamy inside and crisp outside are at their best right out of the fryer.