How to make clam chowder – recipe

The Guardian

01-06-2025

I ate a lot of clam chowder in Massachusetts last summer. Thick and comfortingly creamy, it might feel a tad wintry were it not for the sweet, briny clams, which sing of sea breezes and sunshine. Though the name derives from the French chaudière, or cauldron, chowder is New England through and through, and best eaten in the fresh air, whether that's in Cape Cod or Capel-le-Ferne.
Prep 40 min
Soak 20 minCook 30 min
Serves 4
2kg live clams, or defrosted in-shell frozen clamsSalt and black pepper200g thick unsmoked bacon, or pancetta1 onion
2 medium waxy potatoes
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp plain flour
150ml double or whipping cream
A knob of butter
Though they're abundant along our coastline, clams aren't terribly popular in this country. Fishmongers and some supermarkets (eg Morrisons) often have live clams; they can also be found online, and in the freezer section of bigger supermarkets and in Asian food stores. Unfortunately, US-style tinned clams in juice aren't that widely available in the UK, and seeing as it's those cooking juices that make this dish, Italian jarred clams in brine don't really work here.
To prepare the clams, discard any with broken shells and give the rest a good scrub. If using live clams, rather than frozen and defrosted ones, put them in a large bowl or sink, fill with very salty (like the sea) water and soak for at least 20 minutes to filter out any sand. Repeat if necessary, but I've never had to do this.
Drain the clams, get rid of any grit they've ejected, then put them in a large bowl or sink of fresh water to expunge any excess salt while you prepare the remaining ingredients. If you're using defrosted frozen raw clams, give the shells a quick onceover for cleanliness and skip to step 4.
Cut the bacon into smallish dice – unsmoked is traditional here, and smoked will give the dish an entirely different flavour profile. Either way, try to use thick-cut bacon, because those wafer-thin rashers increasingly favoured by supermarkets tend to disappear in soup. Peel and finely chop the onion, and wash and chop the potatoes into roughly 1cm dice (no need to peel them first, unless they're particularly filthy).
Drain the clams, then put them in a large pan with 600ml water. Cover, bring to a boil, cook until they're all open, then tip into a colander set over a bowl to catch the liquid. When the clams are cool enough to handle, take the meat out of the shells (discard any that remain resolutely shut tight).
You probably won't need to chop the picked clams, because those sold in this country tend to be far smaller than American ones, but roughly chop the clams if any are on the large side. Strain the clam cooking liquor through a couple of layers of paper towel (or cheesecloth), then measure it and add enough water to bring it up to 1.2 litres.
Put a medium saucepan on a medium heat, then gently fry the bacon in its own fat until it begins to render. Add the onion, fry until soft, then turn up the heat slightly. Once both the onion and bacon are beginning to colour, add the bay leaf and flour, and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
Pour in the clam liquid bit by bit, stirring to dissolve the flour, then add the chopped potatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes, until tender. Stir in the cream, clams and butter. Season to taste with salt, if necessary, and plenty of black pepper, then serve immediately, ideally with a large hunk of bread (or if you're on the US west coast, in a sourdough bowl).
If you're making the soup base ahead of time, don't add the clams (or the cream and butter, for that matter) until you reheat the base, because overcooking will make the clams rubbery (keep the meat in the fridge until needed). Similarly, if you know you've made too much base, freeze the excess before adding the clams and dairy to the pot (you can freeze the clam meat separately).
Felicity Cloake's new book, Peach Street to Lobster Lane: Coast to Coast in Search of Real American Cuisine, is published next week by HarperCollins at £16.99. To order a copy for £15.29 go to guardianbookshop.com