How to Make New England Fish Chowder

Searching for a route to fresher, cleaner flavors, we got a bonus: shorter cooking time.

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[AirborneMOC]

If there's one central truth to this, it's that seafood chowders have their roots and supporting pillars on fishboats and packing plants that process the fish.

I'm one of the bazillions of people who at some point in their lives worked in the commercial seafood industry (I was a geoduck diver on a dive boat working the pacific coast from the San Juans of Washington State to the Portland Canal of of Alaska).

It's all the variations from Newfoundland to California that these blue collar workers and fishing communities have chosen that make all the variations so cool.

No knock on this recipe that I haven't tried, but on fish boats and packers, aside from whole milk the diary to use in cooking is tins of condensed milk that's also in the tiny galley to use in tea and coffee.

[jsand]

Yum! I added celery, scallops and shrimp in addition to the cod. Trimmed the salt pork and diced it back into the chowder. Pretty much can't go wrong as long as you adhere to the process.

[simonxie]

Made this last night. It was delcious, doesn't take a lot of ingredients or steps and was a novel way to enjoy cod, as long as you have a loose definition of what a chowder is.

I used bacon instead of salt pork, half & half instead of milk and added some dried scallops for a bit of a more seafood punch. Used a fat seperator after boiling the potatoes. Perfectly pairs with some leftover bread.

[anounimouse]

My Mom developed a Weight Watcher recipe for fish chowder using almost the exact/same ingredients in the later 1960s. Brilliant!! One big difference is that she didn't use a cornstarch slurry but mashed some of the potato for thickening, which we much prefer.

[jaxfl]

I made a keto clam chowder and it was delicious. No cornstarch. Potatoes. Instead cauliflower to thicken, heavy cream, clam juice.

[HestiaBHN]

For REAL New England fish chowder, you need to garnish it with "tried- out" cubes ( diced) all-fat, salt pork.

"Trying fat" is the old NE way of referring to "frying". You have to watch the cooking or Roasting of the cubes VERY carefully...which is trying ;-). But one, even just slightly too dark cube, can spoil the flavor of an entire batch.

The small bits of fried all-fat, salt pork melt in your mouth with an amazing mouth-feel.

It only takes a spoonful per bowl, but the flavor addition is to die for.

[rogerxxxxxxx]

Amen to this recipe!

Use milk and a powdered starch instead of heavy cream, or other high fat ingredients!

As far as potatoes, I tend to always oven bake all of my potatoes at once, then freezing the potatoes for later use. I'd likely just mash some of my saved baked potatoes rather than boiling potatoes. Great basic chowder recipe for home cooks!

[shirleysmith]

Grew up on the coast of maine. Not really our chowder. Julia child and Jasper White, that's the way to go.

[coolabah-blue]

That is perfect chowder, no cream in it is perfect.👍🏻👏🏻

[silentlou]

Great and simple technique, I will definitely try this.

[PaladinSalt]

Feels like watching on pbs still! Keep up the great work

[danbev]

Salt pork is traditional, but not necessary at all, imo. I’ve been making chowdah for years - taught by my Maine MIL. My version is very similar- but partially cooking the fish looks like a good idea. I cook onion & celery in butter, add fish stock and parsley, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, add the potatoes, then the fish, flour to thicken, then milk. Stock and herbs compensate for omitting the salt pork/bacon. Extra mashed potatoes would thicken.

[ARCSTREAMS]

i'm gonna be doing this with a few extra changes, instead of plain water i will make shrimp stock, i also got some enoki mushrooms i will be using as well as shrimp and i got no cod but do have something called blue cod kinda like between cod and haddock i would say and instead of all milk i will use half 10% cream, and for potatoes i only have imperfect potatoes so they should do in a pinch and no salt pork so i use bacon cut into slivers and seared them along with the aromatics at the start and kept them in there they give good flavor and extra meat

[StanleyRusso-egdr]

That’s the way chowder should look. I ask the waiters if their chowder is thick or thin. Most say thick- I never order it.

[nathanielmoeykens]

I love Jasper Whites' rendition he made for Julia Child.

[jeffdittrich]

Water? I make a fish stock from fish bones and heads. It freezes for a long time. Much better than water. I use cream which gives a little thickness. If necessary I and a small rue made with butter and flour but not too much. I also use celery.

[mikejackson]

Cioppino West Coast version. Legend has it, an Italian fisherman would go to the other fisherman of various catch and say "chip in" but he had a heavy accent so it sounded like Cioppino. So everyday after work they would all get together and make a big pot on the dock for everyone.
Most likely he brought the tradition from Italy.

[bactom]

Where is Max from tasting history? Clack clack!!

[randallnadeau]

I make mine that way except I use 2 cans of evaporated milk

[MrQuestful]

There’s a couple of things I’d do differently to intensify flavors on a budget:
1. Properly brown (more) veggies: getting your onions/leeks/celery to a nice brown adds a real richness of flavor, but it takes time and you have to be a little more patient when first browning before adding your liquid. It’s worth the time, I promise.
2. Off cuts of fish: this is perfect for fish stew: get a couple fish heads, it’ll add a collagen richness you can not get from just filets (and then you also don’t need corn starch to thicken it). Talk to your local fishmonger and you might find some excellent deals on less standard fish cuts like collars. Use a bag if you’re fussy, but I just eat my way around bones.
3. Texture: I like to add a contrast of crunch to my soup by pulling out a few potatoes when they are par boiled and throw them in the oven with a brushing of oil, then put them on top like crisp croutons.