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Clam Chowder

A hearty soup made with clams, potatoes, pork, crackers, onions, peppers, thyme, tomato pulp, and hot water.

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

Prepare

  1. Chop the clams and keep them aside.

  2. Soak the chopped potatoes in cold water until needed.

Build the pot

  1. In a clean, hot iron pot, fry the pork pieces until brown.

  2. Add the chopped onion and fry until brown.

  3. Layer in one-fourth of the clams, one-fourth of the potatoes, the quartered crackers, salt, chopped pepper, thyme, and tomato pulp.

  4. Repeat layering until all clams and potatoes are used, omitting the seasoning.

Simmer

  1. Add hot water to cover all ingredients and simmer slowly for three hours.

  2. If the chowder becomes too thick, add more hot water.

  3. Occasionally twist the pot to prevent burning, and do not disturb the chowder with a spoon until done.

  4. Taste for seasoning after cooking; add celery tops if desired.

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. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  3. Thyme + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Potato + thymetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 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 the body of the chowder.
Potatoes
Release starch as they cook, adding body and thickening the broth.
Larding pork
Renders fat into the pot, carrying flavor and browning the base.
Pilot crackers
Soften and thicken the broth while adding a toasted, savory note.
Red onion
Browning in the pork fat builds sweetness and aroma for the base.
Tomato pulp
Adds acidity, body and color, balancing the rich pork and clams.

The step that matters

Slow simmer without stirring. Starches and sugars settle on the bottom of the pot and scorch easily. A slow simmer, gentle twisting of the pot, and leaving the chowder undisturbed keep it from burning while the potatoes soften and the flavors blend over three hours.

Swap the onion

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

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

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