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Creamy Clam Chowder

A soup of clams, mushrooms, onions, celery, garlic, parsley, tarragon, corn, milk, broth, and flour.

By Health Canada · From Canada's Food Guide · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and clam work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 568 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, fish, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat and cook mushrooms, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, and tarragon for about 8 minutes or until liquid starts to evaporate.

  2. Stir in flour until well coated.

  3. Pour in milk and broth; bring to a gentle boil.

  4. Stir in clams and corn and simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until thickened and bubbling slightly.

By Health Canada. Recipe from Canada's Food Guide.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Onion + clamtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together568 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Celery + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Parsley + tarragontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Celery + tarragontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together334 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the broth and milk into a creamy body as it heats.
Mushrooms
Release moisture as they cook, adding savory depth and body to the chowder.
Milk
Forms the creamy base of the chowder, with the flour giving it body.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and savory character of the chowder.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic flavor as it softens in the oil.
Celery
Contributes aromatic, savory flavor and a tender texture after cooking.

The step that matters

Stirring in the flour. Flour must be fully coated into the cooked vegetables before liquid is added. Stirring it well prevents dry pockets and lumps, so the milk and broth thicken evenly when heated.

Flavor stand-ins for the tarragon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, flour, milk):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Marjorambetter flavor fit
  3. Pepperbetter flavor fit
  4. Tarragonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, flour, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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