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Clam Chowder

A creamy soup made with clams, potatoes, bacon, onion, and tomato soup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 potatoes

  1. Peel and cube the potatoes.

  2. Cook the potatoes in 2 quarts of water until mealy.

  3. Add the can of tomato soup and let it simmer.

Make the bacon and onion base

  1. Grind the bacon and onion using a fine or medium blade.

  2. Simmer the bacon and onion slowly, stirring well until lightly browned.

  3. Add the bacon and onion mixture to the soup.

Add the clams

  1. Wash the clams well, open them, and save all the juices.

  2. Grind the clams.

  3. Add the clams along with the juice to the soup.

  4. Simmer for a few minutes.

  5. Do not overcook after adding the clams.

  6. Ensure the potatoes are fully cooked to thicken the chowder.

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.

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. Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

  3. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Clam + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together568 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and body, with their juices adding savory depth to the broth.
White potatoes
Break down when cooked until mealy, thickening the chowder and giving it body.
Bacon
Adds fat and smoky, savory flavor as it browns.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth as it softens and browns with the bacon.
Condensed tomato soup
Adds tomato flavor, acidity and liquid to the base of the chowder.

The step that matters

Adding the clams. Clams become tough and rubbery when overcooked, so they should only simmer briefly after being added to the soup. Their juices are saved and added with them to keep the flavor.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, onion, potato. 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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