Homemade NE Clam Chowder!

Boston. It’s not my favorite city in the US but I tend to get very nostalgic whenever I think of the place.

Having spent a good three years living in Massachusetts as a prep school brat, some of the best memories I have from high school were my weekend trips to Boston. I miss it all: from stocking up on Japanese groceries at Porter Square to going on shopping sprees in Newbury Street, and even taking the god-awful T (Boston subway system). What else? Really good, non-school-cafeteria quality New England clam chowder from Quincy Market. Mm-mm.

And now I’m in Hong Kong and so far the best NE clam chowder I’ve had here is from Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill – which really doesn’t say much. So F it. I’m making it myself and you know what? I think it’s pretty darn good.

The following recipe was adapted from Chowhound. I’ve made a couple of tweaks here and there, and of course, added a few photos.

Ingredients (Serves 4 main-courses or 6 first-courses)

• 2 1/2 lbs Manila clams
• 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
• 1 medium celery stalk, small dice
• 1 medium carrot, small dice
• 5 small baby potatoes, small dice, reserved in cold water
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3 slices smoked pancetta, small dice
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced
• A handful of fresh chives, chopped

Major change: I didn’t like the idea of bottled clam juice so I took it out. If your clams are fresh, you shouldn’t even have to buy more clams to make up for it. There’ll be more than enough “natural” juice to go around.

Preparation time: 30 minutes/Cooking time: 45 minutes

Step 1: Rinse/clean clams.

Step 2: Put clams into a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover the pot and cook the clams in high heat. About 7-8 minutes. (The recipe also tells you to cook the clams with the veggie scraps - I forgot to do this and the soup turned out great anyway).

After about 7-10 minutes, most of the clams should be open, like so:

Step 3: Drain clams in a strainer over a large bowl. Don’t forget to reserve the juice!!!

Step 4: Once the clams are cool enough, de-shell them and discard any that didn’t open. Coarsely chop the clam meat and set aside. Measure the reserved clam juice – add enough water to it to make 3 cups of liquid. (3 instead of 2 as the recipe says, to replace the bottled clam juice) 

Step 5: Once you’re done with the clams, return your pot to the stove over medium heat. Throw in your pancetta and cook until the fat is rendered and the pancetta begins to crisp.

Step 6: Add the onion, celery and carrot in. For best results, make sure all the veggies are chopped in roughly the same size.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Once the onions become translucent (about 7 minutes), add the garlic in.

Step 7: Add flour to the veggies and cook for about 2 minutes (If you prefer a thicker chowder, add more flour). Stir in wine and cook until the mixture begins to thicken. Then put in the potatoes, reserved clam juice, thyme, bay leaf, chopped clam meat and the remaining 1 cup of water in. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Step 8: Stir in cream and parsley, season with salt and pepper accordingly.

Step 9: Serve with chives! Hmm… if only I knew where to get oyster crackers in Hong Kong.