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Clam Chowder

A soup made with clams, onions, potatoes, milk, corn, butter, flour, salt, and cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the clams

  1. Clean clam shells thoroughly with a brush and place them in a kettle.

  2. Pour 2 quarts of boiling water over the shells, cover tightly, and wait until the shells open.

  3. Remove clams from the shells, lay them on a plate, and cut into small pieces.

Make the base

  1. Chop pork and fry it in a pan until it turns light brown.

  2. Add finely chopped onions to the pan and stir until cooked.

  3. Add the clams to the pan and stir.

  4. Transfer the mixture to the kettle of water.

Simmer and season

  1. Add diced potatoes to the kettle.

  2. When the potatoes are half done, add the clams.

  3. Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked.

  4. Add milk to the pot.

  5. When the mixture boils, add corn.

  6. Simmer for a few minutes.

  7. Add butter and flour (browned in the pan) to the pot.

  8. Season with salt and cayenne.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

867Calories
43 gProtein
14 gFat
143 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  3. Butter + clamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Supply the main seafood flavor and, when added late, stay tender.
Potatoes
Release starch that gives the chowder body and a thicker texture.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, building aroma in the base.
Flour
Thickens the broth when browned with butter and stirred in.
Butter
Adds fat that carries flavor and enriches the chowder.

The step that matters

Add the clams when the potatoes are half done. Clams turn rubbery and tough when they cook too long, so adding them partway through the potato cooking keeps them tender while the potatoes finish.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, clam, potato, flour):

  1. Chivefits about as well
  2. Shallotfits about as well
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, clam, potato, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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