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Clam Chowdek

A soup of potatoes, onions, clams, tomatoes, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 Chowdek

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a pot, combine the potatoes and onions with 2 quarts of boiling water and cook until partly done.

  2. Add boiling water as it evaporates and cook slowly.

  3. Stir in the clams with their liquor and chopped tomatoes.

  4. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.

  5. Top with rolled cracker crumbs and add butter before serving.

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

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

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

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

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 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

Potatoes
Provide starch and bulk, giving the chowder body as they soften during slow cooking.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor, and their liquor adds briny depth to the broth.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and sweetness that brighten the broth and balance the seafood.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when stirred into the finished chowder.

The step that matters

Cook slowly and keep adding boiling water. Simmering gently keeps the potatoes from breaking down too fast and the clams from toughening. Replacing evaporated water keeps the liquid at the right volume so the chowder does not become thick or scorched on the bottom.

Swap the tomato

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

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

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