🇺🇸 New England Clam Chowder

New England clam chowder is a thick, creamy soup of clams, potatoes, bacon, and onions. It is the ultimate New England comfort food, often served in a bread bowl. The bacon and clam juice give it a deep savoury base.

Ingredients

• 1 kg Fresh Clams (or 2 cans chopped clams)
• 100 g Bacon, diced
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 stalks Celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp Flour
• 2 cups Clam Juice
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 cup Cream
• 3 Potatoes, cubed
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tsp Thyme
• Salt and Pepper
• Oyster crackers

Method

1. If using fresh clams, steam them open in a little water. Reserve the liquid and chop the meat.
2. Fry bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside.
3. Sauté onion and celery in bacon fat until soft.
4. Sprinkle flour over and cook 2 min.
5. Pour in clam juice, stirring to avoid lumps.
6. Add potatoes, bay leaf, and thyme. Simmer 20 min until potatoes are tender.
7. Add milk, cream, clams, and bacon. Simmer gently 5 min — do not boil.
8. Season and serve with oyster crackers.

History

Clam chowder has been made in New England since the 18th century, when fishermen combined the day’s catch with potatoes, salt pork, and ship’s biscuits to make a filling one-pot meal. The dish evolved over the 19th century into two distinct styles: the cream-based version associated with New England, and the tomato-based version (Manhattan clam chowder) that developed later. The rivalry between the two is fierce enough that in 1939 a Maine legislator introduced a bill making it illegal to put tomatoes in clam chowder — the bill failed, but the sentiment lives on. New England chowder is traditionally served with oyster crackers, and in some parts of the Northeast, in a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl.

The science

Clam chowder gets its body from three sources: the starch of the potatoes, the roux of flour and bacon fat, and the cream added at the end. The roux thickens the clam juice into a gravy-like base, while the potatoes release their starch as they cook, adding a second layer of body. Adding the cream at the end is essential — cream contains proteins that curdle at high temperatures, so bringing the chowder to a boil after the cream goes in will cause it to split. The clams are also added last, since they toughen quickly with prolonged cooking.

Substitutions

Fresh clams are best, but canned chopped clams with their juice are a perfectly good substitute and are used in many New England home kitchens. For a lighter version, replace the cream with whole milk or a 50/50 mix. For a smoky, bacon-free version, use smoked paprika and a tablespoon of olive oil in place of the bacon. The potatoes can be swapped for sweet potato, though this changes the character of the dish. To make it dairy-free, use coconut milk instead of cream — the flavour is different but the texture is very close.

Chef's tip

Never boil chowder after adding milk or it will curdle. Add clams last so they stay tender.

Drink pairing

Sourdough bread bowl and a cold ale. A traditional New England IPA or a crisp lager both work well, and the bread bowl is worth the extra effort if you have good sourdough on hand.