New England Clam Chowder

Garnished with scallions, sriracha and worcestershire sauce

Someone I know just returned from a trip to Cape Cod. Made me think about what I like about the Cape. Clam Chowder - possibly my favorite soup (although when local corn is in season, corn chowder gives it a serious run for its money...). The weather has been pretty hot, but as soon as I started thinking about 'chowda' I had to make it. To hell with the heat - I want soup! This recipe is from 'On Cooking' by Sarah Labensky and Alan Hause.

I would usually buy fresh clams to make chowder, but this time, cash was a little tight, so I opted for canned clams instead. I was impressed with the results.

Start with about 1 quart of canned clams (I bought three 10 oz cans). Drain the liquid from the cans into a quart measuring cup. Do not discard it! Add water to make it up to a full quart. Reserve the clams.

Peel and dice 10 oz potatoes. Add to your quart of clam liquid in a pan and cook until tender. Drain liquid into a container, reserving it and the potatoes.

Render the fat from 4 oz of pancetta or bacon (I used pancetta, but bacon works just as well). That is to say, cook it in a stockpot on medium heat so that it releases its fat. Once it starts to brown, remove the meat and reserve. Add to the fat in the pan 8 oz diced onion and 4 oz diced celery. Saute until tender (but do not allow them to color much). Add 2 oz flour and stir until it turns light brown (this is called a blond roux). Add your clam liquid, a bay leaf and a small pinch of dried thyme, whisking as you go. Simmer for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally to break up any lumps.

Bring 2 cups milk and 0.5 cups cream to a boil. Add them to the soup. Stir. Add the potatoes, pancetta or bacon and clams and continue to heat gently to warm through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf and discard it.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper, Tabasco sauce (or Sriracha) and Worcestershire sauce on hand for your diners to add to taste. Other good accompaniments include fresh thyme, sliced scallions and oyster crackers. Enjoy!

Makes about 6-8 servings.

Note 1 - The original recipe used salt pork. I have never come across salt pork. If anyone else has, I would welcome their input on it. I used thin-sliced pancetta. I like the consistency of it in the soup.

Note 2 - Metric info: 1 quart = 950 ml; 10 oz = 280g; 4 oz = 115g; 8 oz = 230g; 2 oz = 60g; 2 cups = 470 ml; 0.5 cups = 120 ml.

Japanese Noodle Soup (Ramen)

I have been craving ramen noodles ever since reading Momofuku (David Chang and Peter Meehan) just after Christmas. I ate them at Asiana Noodle Shop in Burlington, VT, a week ago, and wanted to try making them myself. My version deviates from David Chang's, but is simpler and uses only some of the same ingredients. Much as I love pig in its many incarnations, I was craving seafood, so that was my basis for my soup.
The soup can be split into 4 parts - broth, noodles, protein and garnish. The broth is the hardest part, but only because the ingredients are a little difficult to find. I made a Japanese sea stock ('dashi'), but you could substitute a shellfish stock or even a chicken stock if you wish (preferably homemade).

Dashi (broth)
Put 5 cups of water into a saucepan. Add 1 oz of kombu seaweed (this comes in thick sheets) and bring slowly to a boil over medium-low heat. I also added a few dried shiitake mushrooms and a few thin slices of fresh ginger, but these ingredients are not essential. Once your stock is boiling, add about 1/2 oz bonito flakes (dried fish, otherwise known as katsuobushi), remove from the heat and allow to stand for 1 minute. Strain the stock through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Keep the fish flakes and seaweed for miso soup (see my 'miso soup' post). Season your broth with a little soy sauce, mirin and (if necessary) salt. This should be enough broth for 2-3 servings.

Noodles
I couldn't find packages of just ramen noodles, so I bought an instant ramen package (making sure first that the seasoning was in a separate packet) and used just the noodles, following the instructions on the side - boil for 3 minutes.

Protein
This is really up to you. You could go vegetarian and use tofu. You could use meat, seafood or a mix. I used shrimp (which I poached gently in the broth until cooked through), salmon (cut into small pieces and poached in the broth until cooked through), mussels (steamed in a little water until they open - I chose to remove them from their shells), scallops (seared in a very hot pan until a crust formed, then flipped and cooked for a very short while on the second side) and squid (sliced as for calamari then poached in broth for about 1 minute).

Garnish
I used a hard cooked egg (I cooked mine just short of hard - cover with cold water, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 12 minutes, then cool in cold water. Remove the shell and cut in half). I also used some bean sprouts, hijiki seaweed (dried - soak in cold water 30 minutes; drain) and sliced scallions.

Assembly
Put noodles in heated bowls. Add cooked seafood to warm broth to heat through. Divide between bowls, pouring broth over the noodles. Sprinkle garnish over the top. Serve.

Variations
Besides varying the protein ingredients and garnishes, you could use a different broth, or turn your dashi into a miso broth (follow instructions in my next post - 'miso soup') - if you do this, do it before seasoning the broth, as miso is salty. You could also use different noodles. I tried rice noodles (soak in boiling water 15 minutes; drain) and udon noodles (boil in unsalted water until tender). The following pictures show two other soups, both with a miso broth, one with rice noodles, the other with udon noodles.



Note 1 - Kombu, bonito flakes and hijiki can be found in a well-stocked Asian market or high-end supermarket.

Note 2 - If hijiki cannot be found, you can use wakame or nori seaweed in its place.

Note 3 - You can buy instant dashi granules if you wish (although it is better when you make it yourself). Just follow the instructions on the packet.

Note 4 - Metric info: 5 cups = 1.2 litres; 1 oz = 28g.