Clam Chowder

A thick milk soup with potatoes, carrots and thyme.

Winter is coming…let’s make some soup!

I was reminiscing today about how my mom would call me all excited, when she discovered a new ingredient or a different way to use an ingredient. Myra called me when she was working on this recipe because she had just discovered fish sauce. She always used the brand Mae Noy from Thailand in her dishes. The ingredients in fish sauce are simple: anchovy extract, water, salt, and sugar (Thai Kitchen has a fish sauce that you can get at most grocery stores if you can’t find the Mae Noy brand). The fish sauce really enhances this clam chowder recipe giving it an umami flavor, and she wanted to share her discovery with me. THIS is the secret ingredient in her clam chowder.

I made this soup many times when I worked at the Cactus Club. It’s a lot of chopping of ingredients, but fairly easy to make once you get everything cut up. I used 2% milk and it was still nice and thick. Whole milk will make it even richer.

It’s the perfect cold weather soup — creamy, with a lot of clams and potatoes.

Clam Chowder

A milk soup with potatoes and carrots.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6 cups

Equipment

• 1 large soup pot 6 to 8 quarts
• 1 small sauce pan 1 quart
• knife and cutting board, measuring cups

Ingredients

  

• 1 TBLS. margarine
• 1 TBLS. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup onion, small dice
• 3/4 cup celery, small dice
• 1/4 teas. black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 teas. dried thyme
• 2 10 oz. cans of clams
• 2 cups potatoes, small dice
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 TBLS. fish sauce

Roux

• 1 TBLS. butter
• 1 TBLS. margarine
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 1/3 cups milk

Instructions

 

• In your soup pot, melt the margarine and butter. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook on low heat the until they are tender, but not browned. (5 to7 minutes).
• Add the pepper, bay leaf and thyme. Add the liquid from the canned clams.

  Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender (10 minutes) and add the carrots, clams and fish sauce.

  Set aside while you make the roux.
• Melt the butter and margarine. With a whisk, slowly add the flour. Turn the burner to it's lowest setting and cook the roux for 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Do not let it brown.

  Add the milk slowly, stirring with your whisk. Turn the heat up to medium and keep stirring until it begins to thicken.
• Add the roux to the rest of the soup and bring to a boil, stirring so it does not stick. As soon as it boils, you are finished. Serve immediately.

Keyword canned clams, carrots, milk, potatoes, thyme