Starting lunch with a traditional clam juice shot

Clam juice is a

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

derived from steamed

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...

s, which can be consumed on its own or used as an ingredient in various dishes and beverages.

Preparation

Clam juice is typically prepared from the liquid obtained from

steamed Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American Southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...

clams. Clam juice may be prepared fresh for consumption, or purchased in prepared bottled form. Some companies mass-produce prepared clam juice, which is made by steaming fresh clams in water with salt, collecting the extracted liquid known as clam extract or clam liquor, and then filtering it. In 1937, William G. Frazier invented a clam opener devised to easily open clams and retain all of the clam juice, which was collected in a bowl. A patent for the clam opener was issued by the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

on November 15, 1938.

Use in dishes

Clam juice being used in preparation of clam chowder

Clam juice is sometimes used in the preparation of

clam chowder Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. It is believed that clams were used in chowder because of the relative ...

and other

chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. Clam chowder from New England ...

s. It may be used as an ingredient in various sauces and meat sauces,

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

dishes, in soup bases, and as a condiment to top foods, similar to the manner that

fish sauce Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, L ...

may be used. Italian chefs sometimes use clam juice as an ingredient in seafood dishes and pasta sauces. It is sometimes used during the deglazing process in cooking. It may provide a mineral-like flavor to dishes, and serve as a substrate to assist in combining flavors present in a dish.

As a beverage

Some restaurants and bars in the US serve shots of pure clam juice. For example, the Old Clam House in San Francisco, California serves a shot glass of hot clam juice at the beginning of each meal. In the early 1900s in the United States, clam juice was purported to be a

hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...

remedy.

The

Everleigh Club The Everleigh Club was a high-class brothel which operated in Chicago, Illinois, from February 1900 until October 1911. It was owned and operated by Ada and Minna Everleigh. Opening Ada Everleigh, the elder, was born in Greene County, Virginia o ...

, a former

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

in Chicago, Illinois, that was in operation from 1900 to October 1911, would serve iced clam juice and a tablet of aspirin as a starter for breakfast, which began at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Beverages with clam juice

Soda fountains

In the United States in the early 1900s, clam juice was used as an ingredient for various beverages at

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

s. Beverages prepared with clam juice included hot clam juice, hot clam soda, hot ginger clam broth, hot celery punch, hot clam cream, clam night cap, tomato clam broth and others. During this time, a recipe for hot clam juice used one-half to one-ounce of clam juice in an eight-ounce glass, the remainder of which was filled with hot water. Accompaniments included soda crackers, celery salt, salt and pepper. The beverage was sometimes prepared with the addition of milk or hot milk. The addition of a small portion of butter would enhance the flavor of hot clam juice.

Cocktails

In contemporary times, clam juice is sometimes used as an ingredient or

drink mixer Drink mixers are the non-alcoholic ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. Mixers dilute the drink, lowering the alcohol by volume in the drink. They change, enhance, or add new flavors to a drink. They may make the drink sweeter, more sour ...

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

s, such as the

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

, also known as a Bloody Caesar.

Clamato

Clamato is a

mass-produced Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

beverage prepared with

tomato juice Tomato juice is a juice made from tomatoes, usually used as a beverage, either plain or in cocktails such as a Bloody Mary (cocktail), Bloody Mary, a Caesar (cocktail), Caesar, or Michelada. Production Many commercial manufacturers of tomato ju ...

concentrate, clam juice and spices. It also contains

high-fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose, and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...

, monosodium glutamate, salt and

ascorbic acid Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with formula , originally called hexuronic acid. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves freely in water to give mildly acidic solutions. It is a mild reducing agent. Asco ...

. Clamato is used as an ingredient in the

cocktail. The michelada, a

beer cocktail A beer cocktail is a cocktail that is made by mixing beer with other ingredients (such as a distilled beverage) or another style of beer. In this type of cocktail, the primary ingredient is usually beer. List of beer cocktails * Black and ...

, is sometimes prepared using Clamato as an ingredient.