SEATTLE _ Chef Heather Earnhardt of Seattle's beloved The Wandering Goose now has a lovely coastal headquarters at the Tokeland Hotel _ opened in 1885, it's Washington state's oldest lodgings. The super-creamy, slightly spicy chowder she makes at the restaurant there calls for the Pacific Northwest delicacy known as razor clams, and the Tokeland makes a fine home base if you're heading out to dig your own. (The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has all the info, from dates for digs to how to clean them.)
The best way to eat razor clams, as everyone including Earnhardt agrees, is right away, just cleaned, dredged lightly in flour and fried in butter. But razor-clam chowder is a special treat, the delicate clams lending a bouncy texture and a perfectly light oceanic flavor. Earnhardt's recipe _ which she'll include in a new Tokeland Hotel cookbook when she finds the time to put it together _ starts, propitiously, with frying bacon in a half-stick of butter. The celery and shallot get cooked only briefly, maintaining a little crunchy life in the chowder. Don't chop the clams too fine; you don't want them to get lost.
If you can't go dig your own razor clams (or go eat chowder at the Tokeland Hotel), you can get them frozen from Alaska at Pike Place Fish Market (where they throw the fish), both on-site and online; Uwajimaya stocks frozen ones, too. This chowder would also be very fine made with regular Manila clams. Serve it with crackers or bread, with an extra pat of butter melting on top of each bowl.
Earnhardt says this version "tastes how you always hoped clam chowder would taste."
