Boston Clam Chowder | Cooking the States (Massachusetts)

Massachusetts, specifically the city of Boston, is no exception. Clam chowder is to Boston, what pizza is to New York, or Italian beef is to Chicago. It is THE quintessential food that the city is known for. Outside of New England, clams for chowder are called in and most reach for canned clams and shelf-stable clam juice for stock. Not today. In typical Cooking the States fashion, we’re doing this whole thing from scratch...clams and all! Not just because we can, but because it yields a fresher, more delicious New England clam chowder soup.

This homemade clam chowder is a game changer, with the perfect clam chowder ingredients and a creamy clam chowder recipe that's bound to impress. And let's not forget the iconic clam chowder bread bowl, which adds another level of indulgence to this classic dish. Our easy clam chowder recipe is perfect for anyone looking to dive into the world of authentic New England clam chowder making.

Oh, and one more thing, it's "chowdA" not "chowdER." So grab your ingredients and let's get into making the best clam chowder recipe you've ever tasted. 🤘🏼 Adam

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Clam Chowder

Ingredients

• 3 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
• ½ pound Clam Meat, minced *see note
• ¼ pound Bacon, diced *see note
• ½ cup Clarified Butter (2 sticks) *see note
• 1 Leek, cleaned and diced
• 3 Celery Ribs, diced
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
• 3 cups Light Cream
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves
• White Pepper, to taste *see note
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Chives, to serve
• Crackers, to serve
• Hot sauce, to serve
• Lemon wedge, to serve

Instructions

1. Purge the sand from the clams by filling a large bowl with water and adding two heaping tablespoons of salt. Mix well until the salt dissolves, then add the clams to the bowl and allow to sit for 1-3 hours at room temperature. Remove the clams from the water and scrub clean with an abrasive sponge and cold running water, set them aside for now.
2. Fill a large pot of lightly salted water and potatoes. Simmer until just softened, they should be slightly al dente, then remove from the water and set aside to cool.
3. In the same pot, add the clams and poach until just cooked through (until they’ve opened up) about 10-15 minutes for large clams, less time for smaller clams. Once opened, remove the clams from the water, take out the meat and discard the shells. Roughly chop the clams into small pieces, set aside.
4. Bring the poaching liquid to a hard boil and reduce for about 10 minutes skimming any foam that rises to the top. Turn off the heat and set the liquid aside to cool slightly.
5. In a separate pot, pour the clam stock through a fine mesh strainer leaving a cup of stock at the bottom of the pot as it tends to be gritty. Measure out 4 cups of stock and save the rest, you will have extra.
6. In a cold, large dutch oven, add the bacon. Bring the heat to medium and render the fat out of the pork until the pork is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the clarified butter, leeks, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables over medium heat until the celery is translucent, about 5 minutes.
7. Add all-purpose flour to the vegetables and stir until everything is coated. Add the light cream, clam stock, par-cooked potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, white pepper and a pinch of salt. Be careful when adding salt, the clams and stock can be very briny, taste and adjust accordingly. Stir the chowder together, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Finally, stir in the clam meat and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Serve in a small sourdough bread bowl and garnish with a sprig of curly parsley or chives. Tabasco and Oyster or Saltine crackers optional. A squeeze of lemon juice doesn’t hurt either.

Adam's Notes

• Any large clam works (surf, cherrystone, quahog, etc.) We need about 25 large clams to get our half pound of meat; I used Cherrystones. You can also buy pre-minced clam meat in the freezer aisle.
• Sub bacon for salt pork if you’d like. The final product will just be a bit smokier.
• To make the clarified butter for this recipe, add 1 stick of unsalted butter to a small sauce pot and melt over low heat. Allow to warm for 10 minutes until the golden clarified butter rises to the top and milk solids sink to the bottom. Carefully pour the golden clarified butter into a heat-proof container making sure to leave the solids behind. Now you have a richer, more flavorful product to use in place of regular, watered-down butter. 
• If you’re looking to make your own sourdough bread bowl, I have a bunch of videos on the Sourdough bread baking process for you to check out. Simply follow the recipe and technique but shape the boules smaller and bake less.
• Feel free to use black pepper instead of white pepper if that’s what you have. I prefer the taste of white pepper in certain applications, Clam Chowder being one of them. I feel the white pepper compliments seafood-based food pretty well. Some people don’t like white pepper at all, but if you’ve never had it, give it a try.

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