How to steam cockles

How to steam cockles .

In Galicia you can find this seafood recipe as a cover or starter in many restaurants, bars and furanchos.

There are many ways to make cockles, there are people who simply make them with sea water, others with water or, as in this case, with white wine. The same one we have at home, a godello that my father makes in the Ribeira Sacra area.

Others tend to dress with lemon, even garlic and parsley. Today’s recipe is perhaps the simplest, the one we make at home and it is how we like it the most.

About 3 hours to remove the sand from the cockle and 10 minutes to cook the bugs. How we use wine, a glass of it always falls while I prepare it.

A ritual that I usually do when I prepare crab cakes , grilled razors , mussels or sea ​​ox .

The most important thing is to buy some quality cockles so that the recipe is delicious. To take them that simple, or in a rice, accompanying a pasta dish or in the famous Galician cockle pie .

This little mollusk is a delicacy, which you can take as a cover or a perfect aperitif for a holiday, a small tribute or why. I hope you cheer up with this tasty seafood. And how do you do them?

Deburring cockles before cooking

1. The cockles were very fresh, and the truth is that they brought very little sand from the estuary, but it is essential to remove that sand well so that it is not bothersome and does not spoil the recipe.
2. This process in Galicia is called “deburring”, it is best to do it in seawater but here in Madrid it is not easy to get it, so we will do it in water with plenty of salt.
3. We must place the cockles in a large bowl with plenty of cold water and a good handful of coarse salt.
4. I leave them 3 hours in this salty water. About 6 grams of salt for 1 liter of water and changing the water three times, once every hour.
5. Thus the cockles swallow the water with clean salt expelling the land they bring.
6. We move them a little with our hands, those from the bottom up so that if they are piled up they will expel all the sand.
7. We remove the cockles and drain the water. We reserve.

Preparation of steamed cockles

1. To steam them, the process is very simple. Drain, wash and distribute the cockles on a clean kitchen cloth so that they are as dry as possible.
2. We will heat a little bit of coarse salt (2 grams) with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil over high heat. When the casserole is at its maximum temperature, we will water it with a good splash of Galician white wine.
3. Add the fresh bay leaf and cover the casserole. We raise the heat to full and when it begins to boil we uncover it and add the cockles.
4. We let them cook about 2 minutes maximum, if they have been opened before we remove them. This way we avoid over-cooking. It is preferable to do them in several batches, preventing them from weighing each other down because it will be more difficult to get them to open. This will also be done before.
5. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large tray or plate, leaving the remaining liquid. A broth that is dying of good, perfect for watering on them.
6. There are people who add lemon juice, it seems to me personally that it takes away the grace.

Its acidic flavor, although very good, would completely nullify the authentic flavor of steamed cockles. But for tastes … I am not going to prohibit anything.

I hope you like both types of preparation, yummy, hey!

The fish and seafood recipes are perfect for a light dinner, a party or just because. An authentic “yummy” dish, without a doubt, one of the best in the Rías Baixas.

You can see all the photos of the step by step recipe for steamed cockles . Do not lose detail and they will be perfect the first time, as in Galicia itself.