Frozen Surf Clam Supplier: Hokkigai for Sushi and Atlantic Clam Meat

Product overview

Surf clams are large, heavy-shelled bivalves dredged from sandy offshore banks, and two quite different products carry the name. Arctic surf clam is cooked and frozen as whole or butterflied tongues for sushi, where it goes by its Japanese name, hokkigai, and is valued for its sweet flavor, crisp texture and the bright red-pink tip the foot takes on when blanched. Atlantic surf clam is a volume ingredient: its foot and meat are cut into strips for frying or chopped for chowders, soups and sauces. This page covers both, and each offer says which one it is.

Arctic surf clam (Mactromeris polynyma) comes mainly from the offshore banks of Atlantic Canada, where it is fished, cooked and frozen at sea or shortly after landing. The name hokkigai originally belonged to the Sakhalin surf clam (Pseudocardium sachalinense) of northern Japan, and sushi buyers now use it for both. Atlantic surf clam (Spisula solidissima) is fished off the US East Coast and supplied on request, mostly as raw or cooked meat for processors and foodservice. We give the scientific name on every offer, because the two are not interchangeable at a sushi counter.

For sushi, Arctic surf clam is offered as whole cooked tongues graded by pieces per kilogram, as butterflied tongues opened ready for nigiri, and as pre-sliced toppings packed in trays with a set number of pieces. Atlantic surf clam is supplied as IQF or block meat, as tongues and as strips cut from the foot. Checks cover piece size and uniformity, tip color, sand, shell fragments, glaze and, for sliced product, the slice count per tray. For the smaller clams used in pasta, broths and steamed dishes, see frozen clams.

Offshore surf clam beds are monitored for paralytic shellfish toxins, and some grounds open only under a testing protocol, so harvest records travel with each lot alongside the tests we arrange for the PSP, ASP and DSP groups and microbiology. Sushi product is served without further heating after thawing, which makes the packer’s hygiene after cooking as important as the harvest itself. Results are linked to lot codes as described under export quality assurance, and the wider shellfish range is on the frozen and chilled shellfish page.