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Clam Chowder

A soup made with clams, potatoes, pork, tomatoes, onion, water, pepper, milk, butter or cream, and thyme.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion 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

  1. In a pot, combine clams, potatoes, pork, tomatoes, onion, and water.

  2. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes or longer.

  3. Add pepper, milk, and butter (or cream).

  4. Do not let it boil too dry; it should have the consistency of vegetable soup.

  5. Season with thyme and serve hot.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

  3. Potato + porktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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 savory body to the chowder.
Potatoes
Release starch as they cook, helping thicken the broth and giving it substance.
Pork
Adds savory, fatty richness to the broth as it simmers.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and liquid, balancing the richness of the milk and pork.
Milk
Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the broth's sharpness.

The step that matters

Do not let it boil too dry. Continued boiling evaporates water and concentrates the broth, so it can turn thick and scorched. Keeping it at soup consistency keeps the texture smooth and the flavors balanced.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, potato, pork, tomato, pepper, milk, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Carrotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, potato, pork, tomato, pepper, milk, egg. 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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