Diving for World Class Butter Clams Off the Coast of Oregon - Deep Dive

In the premiere of ‘Deep Dive,’ Portland chef and Eater Young Gun Jacob Harth (‘19) dives for the unique Butter Clam off the coast of Oregon, and shows us how the bivalve is prepared for a seafood platter at his restaurant Erizo. Read more about Jacob Harth: trib.al/i8ro0HY
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[@GlitchMonki]

I have a bad feeling that once these clams from this area go mainstream the clam population will drastically decrease. Hope they have a sustainability plan for the clams.

[@nerfzinet]

@Herbie Versailles ...what? Everything is irradiated, all the time. The Earth is radioactive, the Sun is radioactive, the rest of the universe is radioactive. There isn't significantly more in the Atlantic than anywhere else. And this is the Pacific ocean, not the Atlantic.

[@r1pthesystem45]

I'm sure you need a license and you get a limit. Such laws are in place for that reason...

[@nerfzinet]

@@r1pthesystem45 You sweet summer child...

[@recoil53]

Other clams are harvested and aren't extinct. Catch limits can work. Of course with ocean acidification, if doesn't matter. No shell, no clams surviving.

[@alkjhsdfg]

Shellfish are one of the most sustainable seafoods we have. They can be efficiently farmed without harming the environment. The clams should be OK...

[@iAmIronMan0605]

Getting people hyped up about a clam that isn't easily found, doesn't sound like a good idea to me

[@nullpointer1173]

Sorry; those are available through out Asia for pretty cheap.

[@jimkuan8493]

That is it? Am I watching a French cooking show? I went out and bought double dozen clams. Bake them, ate them, and with an absolutely full and content stomach, totally forgot everything about what was shown in this video.

[@deskysurfer]

Pretty sure he blanched the siphon and peeled the skin off.

[@Jimiai]

This clam looks delicious and great to prep with friends. But idk about the restuarant. That's hella prep for one clam.

[@alkjhsdfg]

Oh, don't worry, I'm sure they charge hella $$$ for it too!

[@EdwardAlcala]

Aaron exactly haha

[@brettkaufman6686]

These guys were trying so hard to make these sound like an undiscovered delicacy

[@BronsonWally]

I agree lol !!

[@Hitori06]

@Migu Piana not with the way he serves em lol just from the sounding of the ingredients i cringed a bit

[@bydeuce]

They trying hella hard to bump up the market price on these lol. What a joke.

[@EdwardAlcala]

Right lol

[@kevinshaw2165]

Have you seen the menu at this restaurant?

[@barrywhite1872]

@@kevinshaw2165 I have, and I've been dreaming about it ever since ...

[@lxSK0P3MD0WNxl]

These guys are so smug you can tell they are from portland...

[@TheDude-yw4kn]

obama yourmama Progressive scum they are

[@jonesy250f]

No, they're from California and MOVED to Portland. Haha

[@chrisla349]

I’m sure it’s delicious, I just think he’s over complicating something that should be kept rather simple

[@dannyb20vtec28]

Ya man I agree.. dash of lime and a pinch of salt should be plenty ..

[@Ftsqrl]

Yep. He wasted a lot of parts too

[@ej1751]

Well put

[@JackPlaysGame36]

‘We like to prepare it as naturally as possible.’ Drowns it in melon juice and olive oil

[@AllenHanPR]

They make diving look like they are preparing to see Titanic....

[@sghost128]

“We want to serve this as naturally as possible...” Proceeds to ruin the clam with melon juice and oil.

[@LaineDavies]

How did they make diving look so difficult? You would just free dive for them at that depth in New Zealand...

[@jps121]

And make sure you descend very slowly stopping every few feet so you don't rupture your ear drums, lol what?? that dude standing on the bottom could practically reach up and touch the bottom on the boat wtf were these guys talking about.

[@imtired6614]

jps121 ....did you copy and paste your own reply cuz I saw this comment on another comment thread 👀

[@jps121]

@@imtired6614 yep, I certainly did. I posted my same comment like 3 times cause I'm a lazy bum lol

[@basilmemories]

@@jps121 listen dude, you either need to make a good shitpost, or put the effort into an unfunny comment, not make unfunny shitposts.

[@jps121]

@@basilmemories oh you were the guy in the video talking about descending slowly huh

[@FancyTailAquatics]

I checked a lot of this out as a scuba diver. The average area these clams are is about 18 feet at most, the bay gets no deeper than 38 feet in the main channel coming in. At 20 feet, not only is there a no decompression time of more than 4 hours, you could easily surface in an emergency with no ill effects without a safety stop. You might have to equalize maybe 2-3 times if that? Why are they hyping up the danger? There are no sharks in the bay and other than cold water, little danger. The only real danger is getting in the Bay from the channel because of tidal conditions.

[@Matthew-cw3gn]

I don't dive, but I also don't get what they were talking about when they said "most of the pressure change occurs after 4 feet." Like what? How does that make any sense

[@spartanthe300ththermopylae4]

@Matthew-cw3gn you are right, it doesn't (scuba diver here). The biggest pressure change occurrs at 10m (~33ft). It's to do with the atmospheric pressure. On the surface, the pressure is = 1 atmosphere. With each 10 metres of depth, the pressure rises by another atmosphere. Hence, at 10 metres the pressure is = 2 atmospheres and it has practically doubled (from 1 at the surface to 2 atmosphere). That's why it's the biggest change. These guys are fear mongering, I don't know why.

[@casey4567]

As an experienced diver who dives in that area, you can’t underestimate how much more disorienting it is diving in cold, murky, high-surge conditions. Not to mention you’re wearing highly constrictive gear compared to conventional diving (dry suit and full face/hand/feet gear) and more weight to anchor you in the tide. Most people who scuba dive are accustomed to basically diving in crystal clear bath water wearing nothing but a bathing suit or light wetsuit. I also had a really hard time the first time I dived in PNW conditions with a dry suit after only diving in the tropics.

[@j-rocd9507]

I was really excited at the beginning of this video and incredibly let down by the end.

[@asiburger]

Because?

[@toveychow3635]

Marquis Charlemagne poor cooking. Waste lots of meat

[@asiburger]

@@toveychow3635 you do know that fish soup and stock exist? No chef would toss stuff, that can be used in a broth.

[@zacksmith5801]

Tovey Chow he’s only prepping the edible raw clam in video.... he says it over and over again. You just don’t listen.

[@asiburger]

@@zacksmith5801 it's not about a cause. It's about the outrage. He doesn't care, what he disagrees with.

[@JordanNHoule]

We’ve gone out to Samish Island in Washington to go “claiming” every year and eat these. Definitely a local treat. You do not need to dive for them. Literally just start digging a hole and fill your bucket. The local regulations are pretty favorable right now. I would imagine commercial harvesting will change that for regular people. That tedious work he was doing to prepare them are why they aren’t mainstream. They are a middle weight clam. Too large to steam and eat by the buckets because of the amount of poop in the bellies, and too small to harvest like he was doing normally left for a Geoduck, which are great but we (America) ship them to Asian countries for top dollar.

[@omarmufti7033]

Very informative for a KZbin comment

[@hey8256]

why’s this guy making such a huge fuss about equalising smh made me thinking they were gonna go wayyyy deeper than that...

[@TheDude-yw4kn]

yasmin s yeah! They went down no further than 25 feet! What a joke

[@ninanewberry4440]

Hi there, Oregonian native here, tillamook bay is really dangerous and the tides can change dramatically, yea 25 feet may not seem that far, but our waters are extremely cold and unforgiving. But yes I agree they exaggerated this video.

[@BillyN31]

Nina Newberry I wanna move to Oregon. So sick of the east coast

[@XOXO-mb2vh]

Perceived delicacy. I'd rather eat those than the ones cleaning up car beaches. Oil slick clams are gross.

[@XOXO-mb2vh]

@@BillyN31 you guys have the good 🦞 though.

[@sublordlord7834]

This dude said they can’t find them anywhere else, Washington state “hold my beer”

[@alanbumbai]

interesting editing choice of showing the captain talking about the clam shells in the water and then abruptly changing to him talking about divers equalizing. what was the point of that?

[@terencevasquez]

Whats with all the danger???Tillamook bay is only 18 feet deep.

[@jps121]

And make sure you descend very slowly stopping every few feet so you don't rupture your ear drums, lol what?? that dude standing on the bottom could practically reach up and touch the bottom on the boat wtf were these guys talking about.

[@pedrobury6275]

jps121 lmaooooo, my sister who’s 14 free dives 15 ft easily hahahaha

[@Elliott1518]

@@pedrobury6275 I don't think 15' counts as free diving... You drop further than that diving off the diving board.

[@pedrobury6275]

David Elliott Look up the definition of free diving

[@jacquelynn2051]

Prop A Clamda

[@pdxthriftking5033]

Look I'm an 8th generation Oregonian and these are NOT anything new. If you wait until low tide you can literally walk out and pick them up. I used to sturgeon fish in the pools at low tide when sturgeon would be trapped. You could pick these up like rocks.

[@steveshikadance]

Thats waaaayyy too much damn prep to eat one damn clam, no thanks

[@comradeelmo8639]

Yeah that clams costs only 2 dollars in a kilo here in Asia.

[@DanielDupriest]

"The first four feet is where most of the pressure change happens." I don't think water works that way...

[@marksando3082]

Well you're wrong. In a marine environment (salt water is slightly denser than fresh water), it's one atmosphere of pressure for every 30 ft of depth. So 30 ft down, the pressure has doubled from surface pressure. But you need to go another 60 ft to double the pressure again. The ratio is what matters, so it is in fact easier to equalize your inner ear as you go deeper because the pressure does in fact change more slowly. I've been diving for several decades and I know this not only from theory about how gasses behave under pressure, but from direct experience diving.

[@kylasanchez]

@@marksando3082 4ft is only a little over 1 meter 🤣

[@OutdoorChefLife]

Beautifully done! Never dove for clams, looks pretty fun

[@jappojappy]

Yo taku-san, just want to say that I love your content. Always look forward to your videos and I hope you keep them coming. Gambatte!

[@harriscout]

Taku you should do a comparison between the nor cal clams and these oregon ones!

[@solchapeau6343]

Don't dive with these guys. They will kill you with that amount of weights. This is extremely irresponsible of them to use that much weight. It is impossible to equalize while you sink with 65 pounds on you. You sink faster as you get deeper. These guys are literally admitting to attempting manslaughter.

[@ej1751]

It's extremely dangerous apparently. Please be careful

[@terencevasquez]

Clams dont have abductor muscles... they have adductor muscles!

[@mwrkhan]

I was going to point this out.

[@iras.2006]

😂😂

[@Violentmeals]

Terence Vasquez you’d better cut that abductor muscle, or else wind up in a windowless, and soundproof! van, having been Abducted!!!! by this clam... be careful, everyone, and make sure you cut that abductor muscle

[@DenalyMin]

yeah this was bothering me the whole time wtf lol

[@conorhughes6018]

The subtitles actually corrected him hahaha

[@drewcabahug1103]

We usually have those in most coast. Best and easy way to prep it is just put it on top of the stove (high heat) or grill it. And once the shell opens it's considered cooked, the shell and the meat will get separated easily. Dip the meat into vinegar w/ sliced chili and eat it. Sweet, with a hint of taste of the sea, balanced with sour and spicy tanginess of the vinegar and chili. Phenomenal flavor.

[@ChunkyChipz]

You know food is going to be extra af when non asian chef finishing a dish using chop sticks.

[@jacquelynn2051]

Those were culinary tweezers of some sort...not chopsticks

[@danowolf]

Human: "they are an extremely important part of the eco system" Clam: "why! why! why!"

[@guiancute]

If it's so important in the eco-system of the lake, then why are you taking it away?

[@dalemartin7886]

It’s the Pacific Ocean, not a lake

[@neiler1970]

Local speciality for locals. Read Cod by Mark Kurlansky. You are asking to destroy this animal.

[@kurious_kuromi]

You cant just call anything fermented kimchi dude 😔

[@meneadang394]

awa yeah right call it sauerkraut

[@davidjames6788]

Coming from Someone who had a commercial fishing license and still owns a home in Tillamook County- Leave the Clams alone! They do so much filtering and biological work and a few dredgers could erase them for generations. Oregon fisheries are in peril.

[@nikmuhdhafizharun4869]

I probably just boil dozen of it at once, dip in light soy sauce and eat the whole clam.

[@zpumbaa]

boiled clams are delicious

[@nikmuhdhafizharun4869]

zpumbaa zp you need to try boiled blood cockles in Thailand or Malaysia. Better than oyster and very cheap

[@JackPlaysGame36]

This is the way

[@passgas4u]

it's ADDuctor by the way

[@Timmycoo]

Was wondering why the clam would need a muscle to open up..

[@michaelacedo315]

Ok, so these guys are complicating the diving process as well as the overall prep for the clam. Besides wasting parte of it, he practically loses the natural flavor of the clam with all the fancy sauces and what not.

[@JackPlaysGame36]

Yea it looks disgusting at the end.

[@weedog6232]

Clams are a delicious wild treat, but theres something about describing them as 'product' , performing micro butchery on them with fancy pants knives and then tweezing them back into their shells that makes this whole proposition unappealing to me.

[@ironlion45]

"We want to serve them as naturally as possible" Then drowns them in olive oil, kimchi juice, and diced fruit. Interesting work, but the execution at the end was just a bit pretentious.

[@jomangeee9180]

I don't think this kind of clam will go mainstream. Not much meat, all that stuff he put on tell me there is no natural flavor either, good flavor anyways

[@BiggMo]

I grew up in this amazing area. I understand they trying to promote a new product- but now, because of this video, this amazing area is subject to over harvesting and humans negatively affecting the ecosystem he was bragging about. This saddens me.

[@davidjames6788]

Feel you. I grew up in PC

[@David-jw7km]

This doesn't seem like a sustainable catch

[@coleweede1953]

2 years from now they will be overwhelmed

[@27murano]

It is great you have such a delicious clam right on your door step and only found their. Problem is if you create a demand for them you wont find them their anymore. Keep that treat for yourself and your community 👍👍

[@Eric-zs6rd]

We dig a lot of them up here. I prefer steamers but maybe that's because we always cooked these. They're tough and chewy when cooked.

[@jeffro5032]

This video cracks me up haha! I literally free dive the same bay , and grab some of these little guys when I remember to. I'll grab a 1/2 dozen , bread them up and put them in a frying pan and be done with it. Delicious. What do you charge , like $12.00 for one clam after you doctor it all up and actually kill the real taste of the clam? You have to be serving this in Portland , right? Cause those idiots would pay it haha.

[@henryt9281]

The platter they showed at the end would cost you $110 at their restaurant, plus a mandatory $5 service fee for "farming costs".

[@benb1225]

It’s found nowhere else… Except for everywhere else on the West Coast.

[@kazuyamax5090]

Lol people abuse it no matter what feeding ego selling for money and wasted food

[@mastertochi101]

LOL what happened to the rest of the clam by the end?!

[@Ftsqrl]

Cory Tam wasted 80% of it lol

[@iamchillydogg]

This guy is obsessed with equalizing. It's not that big a deal. 🤨

[@jps121]

And make sure you descend very slowly stopping every few feet so you don't rupture your ear drums, lol what?? that dude standing on the bottom could practically reach up and touch the bottom on the boat wtf were these guys talking about.

[@adriancarter4302]

There just cherrystone clams? Just trying to drive up market value by sounding all to fancy in their verbage .

[@TheMasterdisaster14]

Sooo do u eat the entire filling of the shell at once or u pick out each piece? (Talking about the end)

[@MrShlong50x]

These dudes have introduced terrifying amounts of hipsterness into a basic clam foraging operation in Portland.

[@tomm2812]

Captain, it is your environment, 55# of weights are too dam much. Even for your size. Consider cutting back, a littleat a time, you Likely can get more work done UW with less work. A small bailout air system might also be a consideration. Too much can, and does, go wrong Underwater. From a former UW Pro. Good video. Best

[@jefqueshoang8075]

All that for a damn clam? What a freaking joke! I wonder how much they’re charging for the dish?!

[@anonymousaccount2948]

And they all contain microplastic fibers. Google: “STUDY: MICROPLASTICS IN MAJORITY OF OREGON SHELLFISH”

[@victorseaweed]

Ima W1nn3r Good read. Thanks!

[@EdwardAlcala]

Ima W1nn3r gotta look into this now

[@Ghhyuttgg]

Tell the Chinese about them. They’ll be gone in a decade

[@MattsMegabites]

Watch out for barnacles!

[@zurgboy07]

I'm disappointed no wonder it's not famous.just look at the video

[@yosicx9278]

Basically wanna *Over* *Harvest* by introducing the clam 😂

[@humpback5890]

bring back dinning on a dime

[@armandoestrada5663]

Lucas has a new show on KZbin its on the LA Times food channel its alot like dining on a dime

[@zendybithao3525]

...and how much does people pay to eat little pieces of these clams? -_-

[@jonathanlane488]

45 dollars later... you're still hungry

[@BraindeadCRY]

Prediction: within 10 years of Butter Clams really going off on the market the very same ecosystem that they're all praising for creating the best quality clams will be irrepairably damaged by overfishing.

[@jappojappy]

Sad...but yeah. Won't surprise me one bit

[@Alecheeky]

You ever heard of Oregon fish and wildlife??? There are strict regulations that are put in place to prevent overfishing of even under harvested populations of ocean life.

[@rich2583]

Wrong. Those clams aren't going anywhere.

[@nerfzinet]

Yeah, but by then these dudes will have made a killing so what do they care? American Dream baby. /s

[@AJ-iu6nw]

Educate yourself on the clam ecosystem a little before jumping to conclusions "Braindead"

[@TH-bk5hj]

Extinct in three years

[@dertybutz184]

Tillamook native here, I love love love butter clams, ate them all my life. Better than geoducks!

[@YizzERR]

Nice. What do you think they taste like?

[@sandragrant8271]

say adios to the butter clam.

[@edwardprice140]

Nope, to much work. I'll stick with Long John Silvers and Capt. D's.

[@ruchinese3742]

How to be pretentious in 2020

[@108108qwerty]

Guys they are just clams. We know they're delicious, we know what clams are. This isn't some new thing.

[@Budgetmealracer]

Well, this way better than exotic animals though..

[@kimmyjohnny31]

I honestly like cockles more. Not only are they pretty much everywhere in Washington, but they don’t have the same level of PSP hazards that Butter clams carry, I also found butter clams to be more chewy and unpleasant. At the beach I go to, horse clams are also bountiful and strangely shallow compared to their usual depth. I’d rather get macomas (even with the immense sand inside them that requires a purging of at least 2 days) compared to butters.

[@stephenlozada7158]

Can’t find them anywhere else.... get clam add butter 🧈 🙄

[@sherryillk]

For an average Oregonian, 20 clams a day is pretty good. Butter clams are abundant and pretty easy to dig for. We usually go for gapers and pad the rest of our limit with butters.

[@oMDK1]

The dangers of the dives are overhyped. What you are calling the “skirt” of the clam is actually the “mantle”. What you are calling the “mantle” is actually the”foot or digger” of the clam. What you are doing is cool nonetheless.

[@mhappy4520]

Everybody needs to feel important, somehow... SHARK!!!

[@shade38211]

Fat guy telling you about first 4 feet. Just like climbing Everest , going down changes atmospheric pressure. Going up just reduces oxogen where going down under water puts water pressure up each atmosphere you go down. Long time since I was paid cert. , but is a equation easily looked up.

[@juikini5633]

What a pretentious dish.

[@waelkader3300]

Obviously they irritated green-keepers, food lovers, divers, everyone! I couldn’t find a single positive comment here!

[@Eagle1538]

Talks constantly about the eco system. Takes 100+ clams for 3 dudes....face palm

[@tazebenda5296]

Dude where I’m from we call these cockles, yes, I said cockles and we don’t make it fancy here in New Zealand bro we eat the whole cockle(clam) in one. But just saying that is a big one

[@shanejohn9903]

Hey is there anyway u could save the clam shells and be willing to ship them i pay u for them..cant exactly pay much but can make dollars off of what i usually thrown away i take....iam native american and those shells we use in our trditional regalia..so please would be awesome..

[@dalelarson5274]

As an Oregonian, I can confirm that this is exactly what a PDX male sounds like... At least any one of them who considers itself a feminist. You can sound like this as well!! Step 1.) Upspeak the end of every sentence in an attempt to sound informed or interesting. Step 2.) Whistle your S's. No, not a Texas Whistle (i.e. Matthew McConaughey) ... More of a tooth whistle (i.e. Shane Dawson) Step 3.) Be so afraid of your audience's reaction to what you're saying that you're not entirely sure what to say next. However, be more afraid of losing your chance to speak. Filibuster by saying "uhm" "like" or "sooooo" Step 4.) Take yourself so seriously that satirical humor is offensive and should be punished by violent masked vegans who claim to promote anti fascism.

[@JorgeHernandez-zr3kh]

I don’t know how I ended up here after watching seals getting rescued 🥴 but these look delicious

[@47ravenlord]

After all that work you end up with a shell half full of what looks like leftovers of vaginal reconstruction surgery.....that is why no restaurant uses them, they are not worth the effort....but nice try.

[@dianizscrub4848]

idk about y’all but this looks like a ton of work for nothing LMAO

[@allwrightadventures6675]

Keep it a local delicacy Oregon is an amazing state u don't want it to be overfishing like California is

[@hunterpeterson2771]

As a public safety diver, this is one of the jankiest things I’ve ever seen. Do better guys.

[@void.reality]

Chef needs to learn how to pronounce "adductor".

[@matts2588]

I saw an episode on bizarre foods with Anthony simmer. He dove there and got them . Same technique just brush the sand and there they are.

[@rafaelsirens4387]

It’s literally 9usd a kilo in China,don’t know it can be fancy lol

[@Jeremiahhamilton1st]

Dude the lack of safety on this diving set up is surprising. They aren't even rocking a spare air tank or a second redundant. This is death waiting to happen.

[@TheFatblob25]

Immediately turned off by his description of them as "Products"...

[@AmmoMaster]

fry it up and serve with English style chips! WTF are you doing!!!

[@spejeske]

I used to eat butter clams all the time in Washington state. We’d find them while digging for geoducks and bring them home for chowder. I don’t know why they’re not a more popular shellfish.

[@BigRedNZ1]

“We” always look for new “products” when the last one is rooted.

[@Sharks545]

I'm sure the clams are delicious... but these guys are determined to kill themselves with dive practices like this.

[@kito1san]

Wow.. Looks more easier than digging them out by shovel on dry land.

[@RockstarEater]

This chef is a clam master who deserves more recognition!

[@raymondjr.1080]

The reason why we don't use them is because they are labor intensive and too expensive to put on the menu.

[@swanksavage8670]

Just not my style lol looks great tho 🤙