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Clam cakes. They’re just like crab cakes or fish cakes, only with clams, right? Oh no, my friend. If you think that, you would be terribly, tragically wrong. Because as much as I like crab cakes, a true Rhode Island style clam cake is so, so much more.
Think clam beignet, or donut hole. Only savory. Crispy, golden brown on the outside, pillowy and light on the inside. Steam rises from the first bite. The slightest aroma of brine surrounds you. Tiny chunks of clam nestle themselves in the folds of the pillow, offering surprising bites of chewy meatiness as you down one of these little glories after another. And another.
With the possible exception of the Pacific Northwest, no region can boast mastery of the humble clam like New England. And within New England, it is Rhode Island that does it best. I have never seen these clam cakes any other place. They are a masterpiece of street food. To me, they are why you arrive early at the port of Galilee to await the Block Island ferry.
When I was a boy, I was partial to gigantic plates of fried clams. When I grew a little older, I discovered these clam cakes. And I’ve lusted after them ever since. They are to me the gateway food of Block Island, which is the place I learned to forage and the place whose natural beauty I still hold closest to my heart. My fondest wish is to die an old man in a little cottage on that island. But not just yet.
I am 3,100 miles from Block Island right now, a long way from Galilee and Rhody clam cakes. A few days ago, as I drove home from Bodega Bay, laden with clams, I realized that this was my first real chance to make clam cakes with fresh clams I had caught since I’d moved West years ago.
I looked at my bucket of horseneck clams, dug an hour before. While they are certainly not the glorious quahog of my youth, they would do just fine in a clam cake — after all, you grind the clams anyway.
As it happens, these are basically clam beignets. My recipe has no corn. More clams than the typical fritter, cake flour instead of all-purpose, and a touch of maple syrup. Maple syrup? Trust me. You need it.
Now normally Rhode Island clam cakes are served with Tabasco and tartar sauce. As you might imagine, I am more of a Tabasco man. But I could not keep thinking about how much these were like New Orleans beignets. So I decided to break from Rhode Island tradition and add a little bit of the Big Easy to this recipe: Remoulade.
If I thought I loved clam cakes before this, I may now be a clam cake junkie. Holy crap but this was good! The recipe I made was way too much for Holly and I to eat at one sitting, but I decided to make them all anyway. We gorged ourselves on clam cakes until we were about to burst. I put the leftover cakes in the fridge.
And you know something? They fried up almost as good the next day. Popped back in the deep fryer for 2-3 minutes, they came out fine.
Premade fried food? Yes, please.
Rhode Island Clam Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for remoulade
- Canola or other vegetable oil for frying
- 3 beaten eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup clam broth
- 1/2 cup cold beer
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups chopped or ground clams
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 1/2 cups cake flour, or all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Make the remoulade first and set aside. Heat the oil to 350°F.
- Mix all the liquid ingredients together except the beer. Mix all the dry ingredients together. When your oil is hot, add the beer to the liquid ingredients and mix gently. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined.
- Drop a tablespoon of batter into the hot oil at a time. Do not crowd the pot. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds or so, then dislodge any that are stuck to the bottom with a chopstick or wooden skewer. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.
- Drain on paper towels and serve while hot with the remoulade, Tabasco or tartar sauce. And beer. Lots of beer.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can’t wait to make these! As New Englanders born and bred, now living in up, up, Upstate NY we had to special order steamers. Had some leftovers so came looking for a recipe for RI clam cakes. Having spent my summers minutes from Galilee as a child, I agree with you that there is NOTHING else like a RI clam cake.
living in NJ LBI till sandy wiped out my house – spend most of my live in Warwick and N Prov. Crows next the best clam cakes – no one in jersey ever heard of clam cakes where I dine – buy in RI does not have tailored ham? – my mother used to be in the kitchen for hours
over the hot oil only to be asked where is the next batch was?? We have a contest as they always had a different shape and looked like a duck or an oddly shaped clam cake. Gee I miss those days!
Tonight we are making Grampa Browns chowda and cakes…. yummy!
Hi Hank,
We’re going to make my mother-in-law’s clam chowder with clam cakes and remember her making a snail salad to go with it. She made it, and we don’t know the recipe. Do you have one, true to RI form?
Thrilled to see this, although I think the more you change things the farther they get from what the ‘RI’ clam cake should be- simple, re: any garnishes or soecial sauces. I grew up camping off Horseneck Beach (MA) and there used to be a little red restaurant that sold these buggers near the penninsula……. They sold them by the dozen and gave them to you in a brown paper bag… We would carry them back to our camp site and the bag would be covered in grease, and we would chomp at the bit to get the clam cake in our mouth and it was perfect- the taste of the sea and a little greasy breading. Nothing more, nothing less. I make them from my own recipe but I’m happy to have found yours and I’m going to give it a try.
Vitia: It’s better when they are raw, but I’ve done it with clams that have just been steamed open and that works, too.
Are the clams raw or steamed first?
I will make these soon! I live in NC, but we just visited connecticut and maine and the clam cakes were so delicious!! I love your blog. thanks!!
Began the 1st half of my life in R.I. and now living the rest in OH. Gotta say hands down, if you’re from Riverside there is no question that the Cresent had the best clam cakes! Can’t wait to try this recipe as there definitely aren’t any clam cakes in Ohio. Thanks for sharing!!!
Agree! Crescent Park’s Shore Dinner Hall followed by concerts at their half shell stage was magical in the 60’s. The Hall had long tables so it was communal dining overlooking Narragansett Bay. The “red” chowder (aka Manhattan), clam cakes and watermelon. Perfection on a hot summer night.
This is what the limit of Razor Clams I dug this morning is going to turn into this evening. Hank, thank you for sharing this.
bob
I believe you that they are the same species just as a buzzard and a chicken are both birds but I wouldn’t use a buzzard in my pot pie. Just as I wouldn’t use any old clam variety in my clamcakes. I was in the Dominican Republic and bought some beautiful looking clams that looked just like Quahogs from here, they were vile and disgusting and could not be used. I even tried those baby clams in the can(Roland brand)….nasty in clamcakes!
Billy: TRUST me, I have spent many, many years clamming in New York and New England; have even done some commercial clamming. You are right: sea clams and quahogs are different species, and you are also right that the steamer clam is yet another species — and that Western hardshell clams do taste different from Mercenaria mercenaria.
BUT… no matter the size, from littleneck to topneck to cherrystone to chowder/quahog, all the Eastern hardshell clams are the same species.
We also sell another variety of clam here that is for steaming and frying and that clam is not from the Deep Sea but from the shores, they live in dirt.
I’ve had those hardshell clams that look exactly like Quahogs in California and Vancouver and they taste nothing like the Quahogs from here. In Rhode Island they sell Sea Clams or Quahogs for chowder and clam cakes and they are as different as day and night. The Sea Clam is very blah and the Quahog is stronger “Oceany” taste.
Billy: LOL. Quahogs ARE clams! They are the exact same species as the smaller Cherrystone and Littleneck clams; I used to dig them for a living. All a quahog is is a local name for a “chowder clam.” They are all Mercenaria mercenaria. But don’t feel bad, TONS of New Englanders think they are different species.
We rarely use clams in Clamcakes in RI, we use Quahogs instead. You shuck them, save the juice, grind the bellies up and chop the rest. 2 parts flour, 1 part white corn meal is the standard. Eggs, Baking powder, pepper and salt, that is it. If you make them with only clams which a few places in RI do, they don’t have the same “ocean” taste. I’d say 60 percent of the clamcake shacks use Quahogs which taste much more “clammy” another 30% use a 50/50 mixture of chopped sea clams and Quahogs. Same goes for clam chowder, it is made here with Quahogs rather than clams in most places and is stronger flavored than Clam chowder.
I have been to BI Numerous times. . . from 06355 Mystic and now am hundreds of miles away. I looked up the recipe on line & found this. I will make these and remeber my coastal home and the times there. Go Patriots! Turkey day THRASHING of the jerky jets!!!!
Thanks Hank!!!
My wife is from Narragansett and she is stuck here with me in TX. She is soooooo home-sick that sometimes she just starts crying. Im trying real hard to get us there. Hopefully soon. This recipe will make me a HERO. Thank you so much..
Lori: The beer is pretty essential, as it helps the leavening. I suppose you could tinker with the baking powder or baking soda to get the fritters to stay light. Maybe sub in self-rising flour?
Hey, what would you substitute for the beer if you didn’t have it?
Clam Cakes RULE! I can say that cause I am a Rhode Islander and I make and eat them all the time! Must be served with a big bowl of chowda too! I wouldn’t flash that remoulade around these parts. They will know your not a Yankee for sure, lol.
Great blog btw. I’m making the Greek Octopus soon!