The most amazing Cockle recipe ever

For those of you who like gathering shellfish, there’s nothing better than coming home with a big bag of fresh cockles. Fortunately, most people who go after shellfish mostly stick to gathering mussels as there are by far the most recipes for them, but if you know what you are doing then cockles can easily match the quality of any other beach-found shellfish.

Today I’m going to share my personal favorite cockle recipe, and not only does it taste amazing but it’s one of the easiest ways you can cook them, and one of the most adaptable.

Popcorn Cockles

The first thing you’ll need is some fresh cockles as the pickled ones from a jar won’t work, but if you don’t have any other options then soak them in saltwater and change it a couple of times to wash out all the vinegar. If you’re not sure where to find them then check out this handy guide on gathering cockles to see if there’s anywhere near you worth a visit.

After you have a bowl of fresh cockles boiled out the shells and cleaned, it is time to grab the following and start cooking:

Equipment:

A Frying pan

A sandwich bag or some kind of plastic tub to shake the flavoring in.

Ingredients:

Any amount of fresh cockles you like as the seasoning goes quite far and is easy to judge the amount you’ll need.

Salt and Pepper

Dried Garlic Powder

Plain flour

Your preferred choice of dried herbs or spices. I normally like to go for a hot spice blend with some kind of herb mix, but any kind of dried or powdered flavorings will work.

Step 1
Put as much salt, pepper, and dried garlic powder in your mixing container as you like, then add your preferred choice of dried flavorings and a heaped teaspoon of plain flour and give it a shake.

Step 2

Add about half a cup of cockles at a time and shake the container to make sure all the flavorings coat the outside of the cockles. Make sure they aren’t too damp or too dry or the flavoring will either clump up or not stick properly. If you are using cockles kept in saltwater, put some on a piece of kitchen towel and dab lightly so they are slightly moist when mixed with the flavorings.

Step 3

Heat some olive oil and drop the cockles through a sieve or colander to remove any extra powder, then add to the oil and fry for about 5 minutes. You’ll know when they are done as they should be a nice golden brown color. You’ll also start to get a few poppers towards the end of the cooking, which pop open when they’re done and jump across the pan. They can be eaten “as is” or dipped in your preferred choice of sauce.