This is a very delicate fish, both in texture and in flavor, so it may seem a bit senseless to fry it. It works, though. Sprinkle it with kosher salt an hour in advance, dust with flour making sure to remove the excess, and carefully fry it in shallow oil. The key is in not overcooking, keeping the fish moist and succulent.
The razor clams, still bursting with life:
The rice: clean the razor clams thoroughly under running water. We used 1/2 kg for a cup of medium grain rice, which serves about 3 people. Have a pot with boiling salted water under medium heat, add the razor clams and cover with a lid. Use as little water possible, just enough to cover the clams. As soon as the clams open up, remove them from the pot. Reserve the cooking liquid, which you should pass through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any sand. Separate the flesh of the clams from the shell, reserving the flesh.
Finely dice a small onion and two garlic cloves. Slowly sweat these with slug or two of olive oil and a bay leaf. To this, you add the flesh of two ripe tomatoes. Let it slowly stew for five minutes or so. Then, add the hot cooking liquid to which boiling water has been added to obtain two and a half times the volume of rice. Bring it to a boil, season with salt, and in goes the rice. Let it cook under medium heat. When the rice is almost cooked, add the razor clams. There should be a bit of broth left when the rice is fully cooked. Add some chopped parsley and serve at once.
Salada montanheira is the perfect accompaniment to this dish, but this salad deserves its own post.
Here are the fish and clams, side by side:
