Geoduck at last!!!

I finally got to try geoduck (pronounced "Gooey Duck")!

As the reader may know, I'm a huge fan of Seattle Washington.  Its one of my favorite towns.  So my friend there wanted to find something uniquely regional for me to try there.  That's how I learned about the geoduck (see my post "Christmas Duck"), and, as they are only found around the Puget Sound area, that makes them a prime candidate for a regional delicacy.

 

The geoduck was the culmination of a great day.  We had reservations for Shiro's Sushi bar when it opened at 5:30.  Reservations are required, and there is always a line.  Shiro's looks to be that good.  Its a very small, but elegant, Japanese Restaurant/Sushi bar.  Its well worth the time to get a table.  No reservations are needed for the sushi bar itself, but all the seats were taken when we got in. 

As we were going to downtown Seattle around rush hour, we left very early to avoid the traffic which is not much unlike Houston's, and spent some time sight seeing.  Down the hill from Pike's Place, is the touristy waterfront area with restaurants, amusements and tours of the sound.  Last year, an entrepreneur built the Seattle Great Wheel.  It is a huge Ferris wheel, much like the eye of London.  It is the largest observation wheel on the west coast, rising 175 feet above the piers.  It gives a great view of port including the Seahawks stadium, Mt. Rainer and the cargo loaders that inspired George Lucas' Imperial Walkers...

 

 Back to the geoduck...  I had watched some videos on YouTube about Geoduck and people described it as very buttery.  Well, I had never had clams before... yes, reader, I who likes to eat, had never had clams before... so, when they said that geoduck was a very "buttery' flavored clam, I thought it meant buttery in some sort of seafood way, like people say lobster is 'rich.'  I've never had lobster either, so, I've no idea what 'rich' means there... I know what a rich cake is, but not what a rich lobster is...

 

Shiro's serves their geoduck grilled in butter with asparagus and shitake mushrooms on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes on the side.  My first bite was amazing... that's all I can say... when people say that geoduck has a very buttery flavor, they are dead on... imagine if you grilled a pat of butter without it melting and give it a very tender fleshy consistency... and you have geoduck...  

 

Another wonderful thing about geoduck is that the geoduck you get in the restaurants and stores is farm raised, so the wild geoducks are free to live their lives minding their own business without hunters going after them for our culinary pleasure.