What the heck do I do with a Geoduck? Subtitle: "Georgia O'keefe Meets Sea Creature"
Scot went to a fish market and turns up with a giant Geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck). It is a giant clam from the pacific northwest. It takes up a whole shelf of my fridge. We love it as Marugai at the sushi places, but I have watched the chefs prepare it and it can be quite violent. Lots of pounding and slapping it around. Plus, I have never seen the chefs deal with the body, just the the giant protuberance. I have heard that the Chinese associate this creature with male virility; one look at it and you easily can see why. Kinda reminds me of a New England Steamer clam on steroids. Pictures speak louder than words:
Fresh from the market
Removing the outer "skin" (Use hot water)
Free the body from the shell. Some people remove it at this stage, others first cut off the "foot"
Pry the rather hermaphroditic body out of the shell.
The sashimi part is the "foot". The body should be cooked into soup or fried.
Yes, you do have to slap the little foot pieces or they curl up on you.
Lunch is served!! (Note to self: Go to restaurant next time.)
Fresh from the market Removing the outer "skin" (Use hot water)
Free the body from the shell. Some people remove it at this stage, others first cut off the "foot"
Pry the rather hermaphroditic body out of the shell.
The sashimi part is the "foot". The body should be cooked into soup or fried.
Yes, you do have to slap the little foot pieces or they curl up on you.
Lunch is served!! (Note to self: Go to restaurant next time.)
Fascinating! I have never seen a geoduck preparation documented before. It's quite common in Chinese restaurants, but I never knew how they prepared it.
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Thanks Aaron! I have to say, in case you are thinking about trying it yourself, that I am not sure I would do it again. That little bugger was around $40. Depending on the sushi bar, I could get between 4-6 nice marugai orders for that, and it is even cheaper in the chinese restaurants. Plus, it was a nasty job, and it would probably be better prepared in the restaurant vs what I did.
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