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one toasted round sourdough bread bowl on an ordinary plate filled with pale creamy clam chowder containing small chopped clam pieces, tender potato cubes and a few bacon bits, with no clam shells, crackers, herb sprigs or garnish
Rachel Kim

New England Clam Chowder

Steam fresh clams first and strain their cooking liquid before it becomes the chowder base. Sand in that liquid cannot be fixed by adding more cream. Chop the clam meat into spoon-size pieces and return it only after the potatoes are tender, so it warms through without spending the whole simmer in the pot. Bacon seasons the broth, while milk and cream keep it lighter than a thick flour gravy. Toast the hollowed bread bowls just before filling, and serve extra chowder alongside for topping up rather than pouring so much into the first ladle that the bread softens before anyone sits down.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 4 lbs live littleneck clams scrubbed
  • 1 cup water for steaming, plus up to 1 cup to adjust strained clam stock
  • 4 slices bacon cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 small yellow onion finely diced
  • 1 celery stalk finely diced
  • 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp cold water for slurry
  • 4 round sourdough boules about 12 oz each

Method
 

  1. Discard cracked clams and any open clams that do not close when tapped. Bring steaming water to a boil in a wide covered pot, add clams, cover and steam for 5 to 8 minutes, removing them as they open; discard any that remain closed.
  2. Lift clam meat from shells, chop coarsely and refrigerate briefly. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve lined with damp cheesecloth, then measure 2 cups, adding water within the stated allowance if needed. Discard shells and any sediment.
  3. Cook bacon in a soup pot over medium heat for 8 minutes until crisp. Retain 1 tablespoon fat with the bacon, discard excess and cook onion and celery for 5 minutes until soft.
  4. Add potatoes, strained clam stock, bay leaf and pepper. Simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
  5. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375°F. Cut lids from the bread boules and hollow the centers, leaving walls about 3/4 inch thick; reserve the removed bread for another use. Toast bowls and lids on a sheet for 8 to 10 minutes.
  6. Stir milk and cream into the chowder. Whisk cornstarch with slurry water, add it and simmer very gently for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly thickened, then fold in clam meat for 1 to 2 minutes until the chowder is hot and clams reach 145°F.
  7. Remove the bay leaf. Set each bread bowl on a plate and ladle in about 1 cup chowder to start, serving the remaining hot chowder for topping up as the bread is eaten.