Fish, Clams & Corn Chowder
Submitted by shannonbabe
New England-style fish and clam chowder with fresh corn, potatoes, pork fat, white wine, and light cream. Loaded with herbs like thyme, sage, marjoram, and rosemary.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
60 minThis chowder doesn’t cut corners. Rendered pork fat, caramelized onions, fresh clams, cubed fish, sweet corn cut from the cob, and a generous pour of white wine and light cream all go into one gallon pot for a deeply layered bowl.
The technique is old-school New England and worth following exactly. Corn goes into boiling water first, then the potatoes cook in that same corn-flavored water. Both get pulled out half-done since they’ll finish simmering in the chowder. That corn water becomes the foundation of the broth, adding a sweet, starchy depth you’d lose by cooking everything separately.
Browning the pork fat until nearly crisp before building the base is where most of the chowder’s savory backbone comes from. The rendered fat carries flavor, and those browned bits left in the pot become the fond for caramelizing the onions, garlic, celery, and potatoes.
The herb combination here is seriously loaded: thyme, sage, marjoram, and rosemary all at a tablespoon or half-tablespoon level. That’s bold for a chowder, but the cream and clam juice mellow them into a fragrant, complex background.
Five minutes is the maximum for simmering the fish and clams. Any longer and the fish falls apart and the clams turn rubbery.
Chef Tips
- Use an enamel or stainless pot. Cast iron reacts with the acidic wine and clam juice, giving the chowder a metallic taste.
- Add the cream last and only heat until it barely simmers. Boiling cream breaks and curdles.
- Salt carefully. Clam juice and pork fat are already salty. Taste before adding any coarse salt.
Variations
- Bacon version: Substitute thick-cut bacon for pork fat. Dice and render the same way for a smokier chowder.
- Summer corn chowder: Skip the clams and double the fresh corn for a lighter, vegetable-forward version during peak corn season.
Ingredients
Directions
Use an enamel pot that holds about one gallon, add 2 to 3 ears sweet corn to boiling water.
Cook until almost tender then cut corn off the cob.
Add the potatoes to the same water and boil them until half done, about 5 minutes, strain and set aside.
On a medium heat, brown the pork fat until it’s nearly crisp, remove the fattiest bits.
Add the onion and when it’s caramelized, add the garlic, celery and potatoes.
Let each brown a little before the next is put in.
Add the butter if needed.
On a low heat add 1 cup of clam juice, white wine, corn and all the spices.
Simmer a few minutes to reduce slightly.
Add the remaining clam juice, clams and fish, simmer another 5 minutes max.
Salt lightly if necessary with course salt.
Add light cream, when its starts to simmer its chow time!
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