Thick soup is definitely a must-order item in Western cuisine! Compared with Chinese clear soup, thick soup has a richer taste of milk, which makes the soup more filling. Clam cream soup should not be very common in Western restaurants, because the cost of clams is relatively high, so the most common ones are vegetable thick soups such as cream of mushroom soup and cream of pumpkin soup. But clam chowder is definitely my favorite soup among thick soups! The rich vegetable ingredients and the fresh fragrance of clams are layered, the addition of butter and light cream adds a layer of richness and milky fragrance, and the embellishment of bacon adds a meaty fragrance, which is simply endless aftertaste!

To make thick soup, we need to prepare a cream fried flour paste, which is called Roux in English. It is a thickener commonly used in Western cuisine (especially French cuisine). It is made by mixing wheat flour and fat. Roux is also the main ingredient of three of the five mother sauces in traditional French cooking. The ratio of fat to flour is about one to one by weight. It is usually made with unsalted butter and all-purpose flour/general wheat flour. The cooking time determines the color and taste of the batter, which is used in different flavors of soups. Clam chowder is a milky white soup, so the batter used is fried for a shorter time and is lighter in color. After adding it to the soup and heating it over high heat, it can make the fresh soup thick, just like thickening in our Chinese food!

In fact, the method of making clam chowder is not difficult, but the ingredients are relatively more, but they are all common ingredients! This recipe makes 2-3 servings, and you can increase or decrease it according to your needs.

Cream of clam soup ingredients

#Soup 100g clam meat

Half a small carrot (45g) 1 celery (60g)

1/4 onion (100g) 1 potato (150g)

3 strips of bacon (75g) 20ml oil

1 chicken broth 20ml white wine

150ml light cream 2g white pepper

4g salt 2g dried thyme

1 small parsley (2g) #Butter roux

40g all-purpose wheat flour/gluten-free flour 40g unsalted butter

Cream of Clam Chowder Recipe

Step 1

The ingredients used are quite common! I bought the clam meat in frozen packaging, which is very convenient. I just thaw as much as I need. To make it more flavorful, I used chicken soup flavored soup base, but you don’t need to use it and just use water; parsley is used for decoration and to add a little flavor, but you don’t need to use it.

Step 2

We need to make the butter scrambled batter first, because it needs to be cooled before adding to the soup. Now put 40 grams of butter in a pan and heat it on low heat. After the butter is melted, add 40 grams of flour, stir and stir well, and continue to stir on low heat for about 1 minute until it becomes a uniform milky white batter. Set it aside to cool for later use.

Step 3

Next, we will cut the vegetables. Wash and peel the carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery. Cut all four ingredients into small dices. The smaller the dices, the better the taste. First, cut the celery: cut the whole root in half, then cut it into 3-4 strips vertically, and then cut it into dices in parallel.

Step 4

Slice the carrots, cut them into strips, and then dice them. (Carrots are hard, so be careful when slicing them)

Step 5

The potatoes can be cut into slightly larger cubes, and the process is the same: slice, cut into strips, and then cut into cubes.

Step 6

Finally, cut the onion. Here is a more convenient way to dice the onion: first slice along the edge, then lay the slice down and cut along the grain inside, perpendicular to the grain. It is very convenient!

Step 7

After cutting, put the pan on medium heat, pour in vegetable oil, heat it slightly, then pour in the onion and stir-fry.

Step 8

After frying for 2-3 minutes, add diced carrots and diced celery and stir-fry.

Step 9

After 2-3 minutes, add the diced potatoes and stir-fry. You can turn the heat down to low so that the four ingredients are fully stir-fried in the pot.

Step 10

While waiting, let's cut the bacon slices: After aligning the bacon slices, cut them into strips, and then cut them into small cubes, about the same size as the diced potatoes.

Step 11

Then put the bacon into the pot and stir-fry it with the vegetables, still on low heat.

Step 12

After about 2-3 minutes, add the rinsed clam meat and stir-fry. If the clam meat has water, you can pour it into the pot together. It doesn't matter.

Step 13

After all the ingredients are put in, we can add white wine to enhance the flavor and remove the fishy smell (white wine is recommended, the flavor is more compatible, you can omit it if you don’t have it, don’t use cooking wine instead, the taste is different, just buy the cheapest white wine, always use it when making Western food, after opening the bottle, put the cork in the refrigerator and refrigerate). After pouring in the white wine, add the chicken soup concentrate and water, stir, and turn to high heat to boil.

Step 14

After boiling over high heat, add whipped cream (whole milk can also be used instead) and simmer over medium heat (if the heat is too high, it will easily overflow after boiling).

Step 15

After boiling again over medium heat, add the batter we fried at the beginning, stir evenly after adding, and simmer until the soup thickens, which takes about 2-3 minutes.

Step 16

Finally, we add a little dried thyme (optional) and salt for seasoning. Cook for a while, taste the saltiness, and add salt little by little to adjust according to your taste.

Step 17

This is basically done. When the soup is thick, turn off the heat, add white pepper powder, and stir evenly.

Step 18

Finally, we cut some clean parsley, chop it into small pieces, and sprinkle it on the soup!

Step 19

Clam cream soup should be drunk while it is hot. It will smell fishy when it is cold. You can pair it with garlic bread and white wine for a delicious homemade Western meal! The soup made according to my recipe will definitely beat the restaurant! Try it now~

(Images from the internet)