I’m making a recipe tonight that calls for “clam broth” or water.
I’d prefer to use clam broth but I’m not sure what it is. I bought a can of minced clams that are packed in “juice” but I’m not sure if that’s what I want.
There was definitely no clam broth at the supermarket like there is chicken broth and beef broth.
Any idea?
It appears that clam broth is the cooking water strained after boiling clams.
You could probably use clam juice (look for bottles on the shelf with cocktail mixes). That’s basically the liquor from clams. It’s a little more concentrated than broth.
You sometimes also see it by the canned fish (tuna, clams). It’s in a small bottle and looks cloudy. If you have access to live clams you caould also steam them and use the liquid they give off. The juice in the cans is also OK to use. What are you making?
It’s a sauce for cajun grilled shrimp.
It has a couple of cups of cream, white wine, maybe some worcestershire sauce, and a couple other ingredients I can’t remember right now, garlic maybe.
It was going to be part of a Mardi Gras get-together that didn’t get-together.
I’ll be able to taste & doctor as I go along. Sounds like I might not want to use as much juice as they call for broth, but I can add some parts juice, some parts water.
What I would do, unless that shrimp are going to be served in the shell, is use the shrimp shells to make a stock. Clam juice is okay, but it has a more distinctive clam taste than you might want for this dish. It’s also very salty, so keep that in mind, if you do decide to use it.
That’s not a bad idea.
I wish I had the recipe in front of me. After you said that, I’m now thinking that the recipe might have called for cooking the shrimp shells in the pan before deglazing with the wine.
Shrimp stock only takes an hour or so, no?
Does this mean that Canucks can order a Bloody Caesar down there now (in places besides the major tourist spots) and get something besides a dubious stare when we try to explain what it is? 
I’d say about half an hour for the shrimp stock. That’s how long I cook the lobster shells when I make lobster bisque.
Thanks for all the advice. The recipe came out great, so if anyone’s interested. . .
Finely chop small onion & garlic.
In a sauce pan, heat O & G in oil until it starts to brown (3 or so minutes).
Add shells of 2 pounds of shrimp, slices from 2 peeled lemons, 3 bay leaves, 2 cups of clam broth(*), 1.5 TBSP of Cajun Rub(**), 1/2 cup worcestershire, 1/4 c dry white wine. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes to reduce a to about 1.5 c. This smells SO FRIGGIN’ GOOD!!!
Strain into another sauce pan so you’re left with a brown sauce. Reduce at a boil, stirring constantly until it’s thickened slightly (5-10 minutes).
Add 2 c heavy cream, and reduce the whole thing to about 1.5 c (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 2 TBSP unsalted butter.
Salt & pepper to taste.
(*) The recipe actually says 2 c clam broth, or water. I made a light shrimp stock with about half the shells from 2 pounds of shrimp and added 2 c of that, the other half of the shells, and some of the shells from the stock.
(**) Cajun Rub was a dry-rub recipe with salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, and thyme. Probably any cajun spice or blackening spice would do.
I grilled shrimp coated with olive oil & the cajun rub, and served on polenta with the sauce poured over the whole thing. Accompanied with Sauvignon Blanc.
From “The Barbeque Bible”. He says it’s an Emeril recipe. Not a super-quick recipe. Definitely has a fine-food flavor to it. 2 cups of heavy cream will do that. Somewhat complex with the lemons & worchestershire & slight fishiness coming through.
How about for chowder? I want to make this potato/fish chowder that calls for 4 oz of clam juice per serving. If I decide to steam some fresh clams and use that broth, how many calms to use per cup of water (probably medium sized littlenecks). Do you jsut cook the clams as usual (until they open up) or do you have to cook them longer/differently?
Thanks!
I have, as part of my kitchen staples, a collection of soup bases: beef, chicken, mushroom, lobster, and clam. You can get them at a grocery store, I think; I get em at a restaurant supply place. They range in price: chicken is like $5; lobster is like $20. They’re little tubs of thick paste, which must be refrigerated. But they’re amazingly useful, all of them. Quick and spectacular Asiany soup: spoon of clam base, squirt of lemongrass-in-a-tube, a grating of ginger, a splish each of rice vinegar, rice wine, and fish sauce, a dribble of sesame oil. Throw in a coupld dried mushrooms. Simmer a few, then add noodles and fresh veggies. Sometimes a hunk of fish or chicken. Yumbly and quick.