New England clam chowder
Creamy Clam, Bacon and Potato Soup
New England chowder is a thick white soup of chopped clams, potato, bacon and cream, built on the juice from the steamed clams. The clams are steamed first so that their broth, not stock, flavours the soup.
Clam chowder is the signature dish of New England.
One recipe steams about 3.2 kg of hard-shell clams in 720 ml of water, uses the broth with bacon, onion, flour and potatoes and finishes with 240 ml of cream. The other steams 20 cherrystone clams, uses salt pork, a butter roux, 1.4 litres of cream and potatoes, and serves 8 to 10.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3.2 kg medium hard-shell clams, scrubbed
- 720 ml water
- 4 thick slices of bacon, cut in 6 mm pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 3 medium potatoes (boiling type), diced
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 240 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
Method
- Steam the clams Bring the clams and water to the boil in a large covered pot and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking, until the shells open. Discard any that stay shut. Lift the clams out, cool, then shuck them over a bowl to catch the juices. Mince the clams and keep the broth, about 1.2 litres.
- Cook the bacon and onion Fry the bacon in a large pot until crisp. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the flour for 1 minute.
- Add broth and potatoes Gradually whisk in the clam broth, leaving any grit in the bowl. Add the potatoes, bay leaf and thyme and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Finish Add the minced clams, cream and parsley and bring to a bare simmer. Take off the heat, season with salt and pepper and serve.
Food safety
Discard clams that do not open. Buy clams from a reputable supplier and keep them cold. The source says shellfish are weak in spring and summer when they spawn. Pregnant, elderly and unwell people are advised to avoid raw or undercooked shellfish.
Do not let the soup boil after the cream goes in.
Serve with oyster crackers, as the second source does.