I’ve always been a fan of New England Clam Chowder ever since I was young. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of when my family and I went to a pier off the coast of California and ate some clam chowder in a bread bowl. I remember it being super cold that morning, so having that nice hot bowl of soup to warm me up made it such a memorable experience.
Having the soup in a bread bowl was also such a fun part of the dish, being able to eat the bowl while you ate the soup, and so I was going to include how to make it in this video, but making sourdough bread is actually quite intensive of a process, so I decided to just buy it from the store. But, definitely keep an eye out for a future recipe for this delicious bread.
In terms of this recipe, I don’t really remember how the first clam chowder I had tasted, so I had to base this recipe of mine on ones I found online and I think I did a good job at replicating the taste of the creamy, clammy goodness of delicious clam chowders I’ve had in the past. And I can’t quite remember if the clam chowder I had was thick or thin, but traditionally, chowder is supposed to be more on the thinner side. But, if you do want to thicken it some more, you can mix a little bit of the soup with some more flour to make a slurry and then mix this back into the soup to thicken it up some more.
Also, I was planning on making this with fresh clams as well, but I couldn’t find any at the store. But if you wish to make this recipe with uncooked clams, you will need about 3 lbs of fresh clams and 3 cups or so of water to boil the clams for a few minutes or until they open up. Then, remove the shells from your newly made clam juice and then remove the meat from the shells, and you should be able to follow the recipe as is.
Another change you can do to make this recipe even more authentic is to use raw milk instead of the heavy cream-milk mixture. Raw milk tends to be richer in fat content than the whole milk you tend to find in stores nowadays, but it can be a bit difficult to obtain due to its legal public selling status. I think that this mix of milk and heavy cream does a good job at approximating raw milk. You can also use half and half if you don’t want to buy both milk and cream, which also does a decent job at simulating the raw milk. But, if you do have access to raw milk, try using it in this recipe!
One other change you can do to make this more authentic is to use salt pork instead of bacon, which is salt-cured pork, usually prepared from pork belly, that tends to be fattier and less smokey than bacon. This ingredient is traditionally used since, in the days before refrigeration, most perishable foods were salted as a preservative, including pork. But, with the invention of refrigeration, salt pork, which was once an essential food for early Americans, fell out of use and became harder to find in the store. But thankfully, bacon is pretty similar to this mostly forgotten ingredient and does a good job at replicating the original flavors. Salt pork tends to be fattier than bacon, which is why I recommend using thick cut bacon with a large amount of fat on the slices to be able to render out the most flavor from this delicious ingredient.
But, regardless of if you use these more traditional ingredients, or if you opt to use their more modern counterparts, this recipe will be a great way to warm up on a cold day and for you to enjoy the salty goodness of the sea to remind you of your trips to the beach, whether you’re by the ocean or not!
Ingredients:
- 10 oz or so frozen or canned clams
- 3 cups clam juice
- 6 slices or so of fatty thick-cut bacon
- 1 cup water or broth
- 3-4 celery stalks
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4-5 red potatoes
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp or so fresh thyme
- Some salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley or chives (optional)
- Some oyster crackers (optional)
- Sourdough bread (for bowl or side bread)
Step 1: Prepare Ingredients; Start Rendering Bacon
First, we’ll prepare the ingredients, so for your bacon, chop this up into small pieces and toss this into a large pot on medium heat to start cooking the bacon, giving it a stir occasionally, while we mince up the rest of the ingredients.
For the celery and onion, dice these up into small pieces.
For the potatoes, you may peel them if you wish, but I like the potatoes with skin in my soups, so I’ll leave them as is. But in either case, dice these up into bite size pieces.
And then for the garlic, thyme, and parsley, mince these up into small pieces as well.
Step 2: Remove Bacon, Cook Celery & Onion in Bacon Fat, Add in Garlic, & Then Add in Flour
Next, once your bacon has fully cooked and the fat has rendered, remove the bacon pieces to a paper towel to let it drain and remove all but 2 tablespoons or so of the bacon fat from the pot.
Then, add in the celery and onions and cook these for 5 minutes or so, until they start to soften, and then add in the garlic and cook this for another minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.
Then, add in the flour, and give this a mix, cooking the flour-veggie mixture for a couple more minutes.
Step 3: Add in Clam Juice & Water; Add in Potatoes, Bay Leaf, & Thyme; Simmer for 15 Minutes
Next, slowly pour in the clam juice and water, giving this a mix, to smoothly combine the flour and liquid.
Then, add in the potatoes, bay leaf, and thyme and bring this to a low boil.
Then, cover and let this simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are just getting tender. And during this time, if needed, you may mince your clams into smaller pieces if desired, before we add them in.
Step 4: Add in Milk, Heavy Cream, & Clams; Simmer for another 15 Minutes
Once your potatoes are ready, add in the milk, heavy cream, and cooked clams (and any liquid in the cans, if using) and simmer (NOT boil!) this for another 15 minutes or until it thickens up to your desired thickness, stirring occasionally.
Step 5: Add Salt & Pepper, if needed; Garnish w/ Bacon Pieces & Parsley; & Serve w/ Oyster Crackers & Bread!
Once the soup is to your liking, give it a taste and add in any salt and pepper, if desired. Then, when you’re ready to serve the soup, ladle it into a bowl of your choice, garnish with the bacon pieces and parsley, serve with some oyster crackers or bread, and with that, your New England Clam Chowder is ready to eat.