Oysters, scallops, mussels, pipis, vongole and other clams hide a tasty nugget of meat inside their shells. Whether your taste runs to Asian or European flavours, you’ll find these bivalve seafood recipes quick, easy and delicious.
Bivalves that live in a sandy environment – such as vongole and pipis – need to be purged to remove the sand before cooking. They’re usually sold already ‘purged’, but it’s best to still place them in cool water with 30g natural salt added for each litre of water. Leave them in a cool place at room temperature for several hours, or overnight, before cooking them. Don’t refrigerate them or they’ll close up and won’t ‘spit out’ the sand. Mussels and oysters don’t need to be purged as they grow suspended in the water, not on the bottom.
Shellfish is a general term for all aquatic creatures other than fin fish. It includes crustaceans (such as prawns) and molluscs/mollusks which are further categorised into bivalves (such as clams) and cephalopods (such as squid).
There are two types of molluscs. Some live inside a hard outer shell: bivalves with two hinged shells or univalves with a single shell (sea snails). Others are cephalopods such as squid and octopus lacking an outer shell.
Bivalves, as the name suggests, are two-shelled creatures such as oysters, scallops, mussels, pipis, vongole and other clams.
Univalves are creatures that live inside one shell, such as abalone and sea snails.
Bivalves are cooked virtually as soon as their shells open. So it’s best to remove each one from the pan as this happens (see video above).
