Clam Chowder Recipe ... need answer fast

Full disclosure: I can’t cook for shit. Most everything I make must include the instruction, “pour in contents of flavor packet,” for it to be edible. However, after a tasty little clambake/lobster-feed yesterday, I find myself in the possession of a mess of steamed clams (I’m guessing around 30 still in the shell) and some little red steamed potatoes as well (about 15 of them (little baby thingies)) and I’m keen to try to make some clam chowder. Need answer fast, because if I don’t pull this off today, I don’t think the clams will keep.

Here’s the thing … I’m looking up recipes online and most of them have canned clams as the ingredient. I’m not sure I have the culinary chops to translate that into what I have.

So … anyone got the goods? I’m looking for New England style, by the way, thicker the better.
(again, please bear in mind that I try hard, but I really can’t cook for shit)

Suggestion: Follow your online recipe, just use the same weight of freshly steamed clam meat, for the canned clams. Or a pile of clam meat in the dimensions of the can specified in the recipie. Technically, I suppose you’re losing water not using canned clams, but you said you want it thick. You could always buy a bottle of clam juice if you need to thin – they sell that at convenience stores – you’ll even acquire that delightful “canned flavor” you may crave.

I would just do this. Except I’d say you definitely do need to add clam juice, no matter how thick you want your clam chowder. What is your broth base going to be otherwise? You need it for the liquid and that clammy flavor. Normally, you’d use the clam broth that you got from cooking your clams, but we don’t have that step, since we already have prepared clams.

New England clam chowder really shouldn’t be super thick, but if you like that diner style where you can almost stand a spoon in it, you just add more flour or cornstarch to it. If when you’re done with your recipe, you’re not happy with the thickness, put a couple tablespoons of flour in a cup, add some milk or other cold liquid (enough to dissolve the flour, maybe a half cup or so), beat it well to get rid of lumps, and then add a little bit at a time to your soup (giving it a minute or two to cook through) until it’s at the thickness you desire. Cornstarch essentially does the same thing, but is much more potent by volume. (And it leaves a glossier sheen on your soup.)

You can add instant mashed potato as a thickener as well.

Soup is hard to mess up.

Brian

I’d steer away from the flour+liquid to thicken. Flour and water makes paste, and if you start with paste you’ll end up with paste. You need to thicken with a white roux.

The slurry is just for adjustment at the end. I find them perfectly fine and less a pain in the ass that firing up a roux just to thicken at the end. (And, honestly, I really can’t tell the difference. The only advantage I see to a white roux is that it is less likely to lump and the flour taste is cooked out right away. Oh, and you could make it ahead of time. Flavor and thickeningwise? I doubt there is any difference. It still ends up being flour + liquid in the end.)

My only contribution is not to add the steamed clams until the last moment. If they’re already cooked, they needn’t cook anymore, and even slightly overcooking clams makes them tough.

I’m assuming they’re small tender clams like cherrystones or manilas, not big chewy ones.

If they are steamed they are probably “steamers”, which are a different species from cherrystones, and more tender.

But I’m wondering if the OP ought to remove the bellies. Steamed clams are usually whole clams, including the bellies. Clam chowder usually just uses the meat. (I think it’s usually made from giant clam, not from any of the small clams we eat whole.)

Yes, steamers. Steamed. My plan is to shuck them, maybe give them a little choppy-chop and chuck it all in there. I live on the edge, baby.

Furiously taking notes here. I think I’m on the roux + sweated onions and stuff, then clam juice, milk, clams and potatoes route at the moment. Unless someone tells me I’m steering the wrong way.

When you shuck them, reserve the liquid that is in the shells. That’s clam juice, and you should use in in the broth. If there’s a lot of mud or sand in it, you might want to strain it, first.

Since there have been plenty of serious replies, my first thought was

Mmm…steamed hams

You’re on the right track. Chop and fry a couple of pieces of bacon first. Remove that when it begins to get crispy. Sweat your onions in the bacon fat, add some butter if you need it. Add your roux. Add your liquid and potatoes. A pint of heavy cream will take it to another level. Add chopped clams. Add the reserved bacon at the end. Black pepper. Fresh parsley if you have it.

I use the strained liquid from steaming the clams, homemade fish stock, and heavy cream as my liquids. Canned chicken stock, a bottle of clam juice and the cream would probably work.

Clam chowder is not the time to try to go lo-cal. Also, it freezes well, as would the cooked and cleaned clams if it comes to that.

I would slice each clam in half and squeeze out the bellies. First because that’s the most likely place for bacteria to have built up over night, and second because if they open up on you your lovely creamy base will look all dirty and gross.

If you decide to keep the bellies then fry each one a bit in the bacon grease before adding it to the milk. Make sure they are cooked through - they are supposed to be chewy, it’s OK. Soft clams in soft soup with softened onions and celery would just be yucky. And if you keep the bellies don’t freeze it, or keep the leftovers more than a day or so.

Also, I always leave the bacon out of the soup and put it on the table all crumbled up. Put a few oyster crackers in the center of each bowl and then sprinkle bacon crumbles on top. Much better than the random slimy softened bacon piece.

I mentioned milk above, but I actually never use it. I simmer the onion, celery, and bay in butter, and then add water. The potatoes etc. cook in the water and then I add cream at the last moment. This has the advantages of preventing curdling and avoiding lactose so everybody can have some.

Sounds like a great week you’re having! I’m hungry now . . . ;-D

ETA: If you really want to elevate it, use a potato peeler to peel the backs of the celery stalks and get most of the strings out of them. The improvement in texture is unbeatable. Or if you really want the extra fibre, then slice them super thinly on a mandolin.

Re: thickening It’s the potato starch that usually thickens it, so having them pre-cooked will probably necessitate some addition. If it really needs it, just mash up one of your potatoes and whip it until it gets gluey. Stir that into the pot and bingo.

Or you can add powdered potato starch (always my go-to thickener) or even instant mashed potatoes (unflavored.)

A white roux is the yummiest answer, if you’re willing to take the trouble. Just melt some butter in a pan and add a couple of tablespoons of flour. Keep the heat medium-low and stir until you’ve got a paste. Then take some liquid from the soup and stir it around until it’s a loose slurry. Pour that into the soup pot. Give it a full five or six minutes to thicken, then repeat if necessary.

I’ve never had clam chowder with clam bellies. I’d remove them. But it might be interesting to leave them in. I agree that you want to make sure they stay whole, and make sure they are fully cooked.

The perfect approach. I second doing it this way!

This is one of those subjects I could give a two hour talk on off the top of my head. I’d probably run over time. I’ll keep this brief for the time being, sticking to the subject of White Clam Chowder and leaving aside other varieties of clam chowder, and chowders containing other meats besides or in addition to clams.

White Chowder (or simply White) is the proper designation for what is often called New England Clam Chowder. It’s necessary ingredients are clams and ‘white’. The ‘white’ being milk and/or cream. The clams may be any variety but mostly are chopped Cherrystones or Quahogs. Smaller clams of the Littleneck variety may used, as well as razor clams or soft shell clams. For chowder clams is not only the meat but plenty of clam juice also. After that the subject becomes complicated because people are very picky about what goes into their chowder. The most common additions are potatoes, onions, and thickeners. There is some set of people that also add salt pork of some variety, usually considered a tasty addition to any dish but likely to set off some chowder purists into a frenzied rage.

The simplest chowder may be nothing but milk and clams. Any kind of clams, chopped or whole, and slowly simmered to infuse the flavor of the clams into the liquid. My thin white chowder would use this method, coarsely chopped clams, lightly browned onion strings, and milk or cream. For almost all white chowders I use about a 2:1 ‘white’ to clam juice ratio.

From that same base, either with or without the onions I can add diced potatoes. I use firm Russets for this so the potatoes don’t just turn to mush.

When thickening chowder a white flour and butter and roux is best. However if you want eat it with a fork consistency you need to start with cream or add plenty of butter to avoid a starchy taste. Another approach if you don’t mind it being a little starchy and ‘grainy’ is to add crumbled saltines or oyster crackers to the chowder. They’ll absorb liquid as the chowder simmers but the chowder won’t have a consistently creamy appearance. Most people don’t care, they like the way the crumbs carry the flavor.

White chowder is best heated in a double boiler, slowly, well below the boiling point to avoid any burning and leaving lots of delicious bits of clam stuck to the bottom of the pot.

For clams use what you can find. If you get whole clams steam then in a pot with just half an inch of water until they open, let them cool down until you can handle them, then scoop out the meat with a spoon or your fingers. Use a spoon/and or knife to scrape out the necks and any bits stuck to the shell. If you use soft shell clams (called ‘steamers’ here in Ningland) remove any of the black membrane around the clam and on the neck (the part you hold to eat them). Do this over a bowl to catch all the clam juice. If the clams have full bellies you can rinse them if you like but it’s all delicious flavor. If the water from the steaming is clean you can use that for clam juice also.

You can buy chopped clams and maybe chopped quahogs in these parts. They’re usually from large clams and not as flavorful as the smaller ones but still perfectly fine. Ask the seafood vendor to drain the juice before weighing the chopped clams, then ask them to add more, which they will usually do. You can also use canned clams. Not as exquisite in flavor but still plenty clammy. And you can buy bottled and canned clam juice as well as clam base.

For proportions in a basic thick white chowder use 2 pounds of chopped clams, 1 pint of heavy cream, and 1 cup of clam juice. Use about 1 pint of diced potatoes. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a pot and stir in two heaping tablespoons of white flour. Slowly stir in the cream then add the clams and potatoes. Bring the mix to nearly a boil while stirring so the flour will thicken properly, then lower the heat and keep covered at a very low simmer until the potatoes are tender.

I almost always add some coarse ground black pepper and a dash of celery salt but it’s just a matter of taste.

Ok. The jury is hung. Final verdict cannot be rendered as the goop is still simmering, but initial results indicate: way to bacony. Which is weird because I didn’t even use bacon. Well, not real bacon. I’ve been avoiding red meat for some time now so I went with a few slabs of turkey bacon. Okay, maybe not the greatest idea, but whaddayagonnado? I had an onion chopped up and some garlic minced ready to go. I dumped the onions in the pan after taking the bacon out, but they started to singe right away so I poured in a little olive oil. I let that work for a minute or two and then dumped in the garlic.

Then I started the roux. I’ve never made a roux before. I barely knew what “roux” meant before I started this thread. I started out with two whole sticks of butter. I let that melt up and then dumped in some flour. I just eye-balled it, trying to make it about 1:1. It came okay, I think. It looked just like it should according to YouTube, so … so far so good, I suppose.

That’s when things kinds of went off the rails for me. I was trying to monitor everything but things were going a little quicker than I anticipated. I turned down the onions/garlic while I chopped up the bacon into little bits and dumped that in. Still tending to the roux, which was thickening quickly, causing my panic to rise. This sort of juggling is the kind of thing that could easily lead to clam pancakes, somehow. But I got the clams together - I’d shucked and rinsed them earlier. I’d decided to not even go with the necks. It was easier than peeling off that little foreskin, and beside, I thought they’d be too tough. Anyway, I chopped those up a little bit leaving a few good size chunks and dumped that in the pan too.

Now the roux was threatening to become dough so I started to whisk in some milk and some of the bottled clam juice I bought. But I just did little dribbles and drabbles as instructed, then pouring a little more and a little more. I turned back to my onion/garlic/bacon/clam pan and poured it all into the roux only to realize that I hadn’t put in near enough milk. At that precise point I remembered my potatoes. So, I’m trying to thin up the goo with milk while digging out the potatoes, which, in retrospect, were plenty - I didn’t need to buy the other dozen. Damn it. In that panic I uttered my most common technical culinary term, “fuck it,” and dumped in the rest of the bottle of clam juice and another splash of milk and tended to the spuds.

I got the taters heated up a little in the zapper and I cubed them and tossed them into the cauldron. Things had leveled off and my panic subsisted. I was now an easy stirring, milk pouring, spice adding mother fucker for the next several moments. Just a few favorites from the hit parade: salt, pepper, ginger, paprika, taragon, and enough milk to bring it to the consistency I want.

Like I said … simmering … first tastes taste like bacon chowder.

Yeah, sound like too much roux there. I usually figure one tablespoon of flour + one tablespoon of fat to thicken one cup of liquid. Two sticks of butter should be enough to thicken one US gallon of liquid, so a little bit of overkill. Still, learning how to make a roux is a valuable skill, and now that you see how easy it is, you can just alter the amount you’re making and you’re good to go. A roux in a sealed container will keep for weeks in your refrogerator.

Final verdict: it’s awful. It’s way too thick. Too pasty. Too bland. I don’t know if I can rescue it with more dairy or not.