Quahogs steamed open, their strained broth simmered with salt pork, onion and waxy potatoes. No cream and no tomato. Eight to ten servings, one hour.
Ingredients
- 24 medium quahog clams, top neck or cherrystone, rinsed
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 lb slab bacon or salt pork, diced
- 1 large Spanish onion, diced
- 2 large ribs celery, cleaned and diced
- 12 red bliss potatoes, cubed
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
There is no salt in the ingredient list
Deliberately.
Twenty four quahogs steamed in four cups of water give a broth that is properly saline on its own. Seasoning early, before that broth has reduced into the pot, overshoots badly.
Pepper goes in at the end. Taste before adding anything else, and the usual fix for a flat bowl is more pepper or more clam broth rather than salt.
Strain the broth through cloth
Cheesecloth, or doubled paper towels in a sieve.
Sand settles in the bottom of the pot every time, whatever the clams looked like going in. A chowder that grits between the teeth cannot be rescued by anything done afterwards.
Four cups goes into the chowder. The rest freezes and is the best liquid available for a fish stew or a risotto.
Cherrystone or top neck
Not littlenecks and not full chowder clams.
Littlenecks are smaller and sweeter and better steamed on their own. Chowder-grade quahogs are large and tough and need longer cooking than this recipe gives them.
Discard any clam that is cracked, any that stays open when tapped, and any that has not opened after twenty minutes of steaming.
Canned clams do not substitute here
The broth is the dish.
Bottled clam juice is thin and salty by comparison, and with no cream to carry flavour there is nothing to hide behind. A different soup is the better choice than this one made badly.
Render the pork slowly
Medium-low, five to seven minutes.
High heat seizes the outside of the cubes before the fat releases, which leaves tough pieces and a dry pan.
Salt pork is traditional and cleaner tasting. Bacon adds smoke, which is not authentic and is a reasonable choice anyway.
Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon once the fat has rendered and hold them back. Left in the pot for the whole cook they go soft; returned at the end with the clams they keep some chew.
Red bliss potatoes, skins on
Twelve, cut into roughly two centimetre cubes.
Waxy potatoes hold their shape through a simmer. A russet breaks down and clouds the broth, which defeats the point of a clear chowder.
The skins hold each cube together and there is no reason to peel them.
The wine cooks off entirely
Half a cup, in with the potatoes.
Five minutes until it has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften. It is not there to be tasted; it lifts the pot off the flat.
A bare simmer, partly covered
Ten to fifteen minutes until the potatoes are tender.
A hard boil knocks the corners off the potatoes and clouds the broth. Barely bubbling is the target.
Chop the clams to the size of the pork
About a centimetre.
Larger pieces chew. Smaller ones disappear into the broth entirely.
They go in at the very end, brought just to a simmer and pulled off the heat. Clams cooked twice go rubbery and stay that way.
Storing
Better on the second day.
Cooled and left overnight, the potato starch relaxes into the broth and thickens it slightly, and the clam flavour spreads through instead of sitting in individual pieces. Reheat gently without boiling.
Three days refrigerated. It does not freeze, since the potatoes turn mealy.
Chopped parsley over the top and oyster crackers on the side rather than in the bowl.
Rhode Island Clam Chowder
Equipment
- Large heavy Dutch oven
- Fine Sieve
- Cheesecloth
- Slotted spoon
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 24 medium quahog clams top neck or cherrystone, rinsed
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 lb slab bacon or salt pork diced
- 1 large Spanish onion diced
- 2 ribs celery large, cleaned and diced
- 12 red bliss potatoes cubed, skins on
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
Instructions
- Steam the clams. Put the clams in a large heavy Dutch oven, add about 4 cups of water and set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes until they open, discarding any still shut after 20 minutes. Strain the broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled paper towels and set aside. Remove the clams from their shells and set aside.
- Render the pork. Rinse the pot and return it to the stove. Add the butter over medium-low heat, then the bacon or salt pork. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pork has just begun to brown. Lift the pork out with a slotted spoon and reserve.
- Soften the vegetables. Add the onion and celery to the fat and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft but not browned. Stir in the potatoes and wine and cook about 5 minutes until the wine has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften. Add 4 cups of the strained clam broth, the thyme and the bay leaf.
- Simmer. Partly cover and simmer gently, barely bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Chop the clams. Meanwhile chop the clams into pieces about the size of the pork dice.
- Finish. Stir the chopped clams and reserved pork into the tender potatoes. Add black pepper to taste. Bring just to a simmer and remove from the heat immediately. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
- Rest and serve. Let the chowder sit to cure, ideally overnight. Reheat gently without boiling, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with oyster crackers on the side.
