About this Dish
New England's creamy potato and clam soup — served in a bread bowl at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and in every seafood shack from Maine to Boston. The Manhattan version uses tomato instead of cream — considered a heresy by New Englanders. The clams must be fresh, the cream must be thick and the chowder must be served piping hot.
IngredientsServes 4
🐚Fresh clams (littleneck or cherrystone), 1.5kg scrubbed
🥓Thick-cut bacon or salt pork, 150g diced
🧅Yellow onion, 1 large finely diced
🥔Yukon Gold potatoes, 500g peeled and cubed into 1cm pieces
🧈Unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons
🌾Plain flour, 3 tablespoons
🥛Heavy cream, 300ml
🍼Whole milk, 300ml
🌿Fresh thyme, 4 sprigs, plus bay leaf
🧂Salt, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne to taste
Method
1
Steam the scrubbed clams in a large pot with 500ml of water over high heat, covered, for 6–8 minutes until they open. Discard any that stay closed. Strain and reserve the clam broth through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, then remove the clam meat from the shells and roughly chop — set both aside.2
In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or large pot, cook the diced bacon over medium heat until crispy and the fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.3
Add the butter to the pot with the bacon fat, then sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out the raw flour taste.4
Gradually pour in the reserved clam broth, stirring as you go to avoid lumps. Add the potatoes, thyme sprigs and bay leaf, then simmer for 12–15 minutes until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife.5
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream and milk — never let it boil from this point or the dairy may split. Add the chopped clam meat and crispy bacon back into the pot and gently warm through for 3–4 minutes.6
Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf, then taste and season generously with salt, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Ladle piping hot into bowls or a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl, and finish with a little extra cracked black pepper on top.7
Hollow out your sourdough bread bowls and ladle the piping hot chowder inside. Serve immediately with the torn bread chunks on the side for dipping.User Reviews
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