Manhattan Clam Chowder: zesty, cozy, bacon free

21 May

A Margarita glass makes for a novel soup presentation. Nota bene: The glass should be sturdy!

I make several versions of “Manhattan Clam Chowder,” none of which is particularly authentic, but then again, this is a soup named for Manhattan. Of all places in the world, this is the one where everyone belongs and everyone is unique, if not downright quirky. So consider this a mandate to scoff at tradition and do it your way.

This version doesn’t use bacon and relies heavily on vegetable gusto.

Manhattan Clam Chowder (without bacon)

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 cup onion, peeled and chopped fine

3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine

½ cup red pepper, chopped fine

½ Cup carrot, peeled and chopped (first in quarters lengthwise, then in thin slices)

½ Cup celery stalks, peeled and sliced into small chunks

Two medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½ inch squares

4 cups vegetable juice (low sodium preferred)*

1 bay leaf

Four 5.5 oz cans of chopped clams, juices reserved

1 Tbs dried oregano (2 Tbs fresh, chopped)

1 Tbs dried parsley (2 Tbs fresh, chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot at medium high until fragrant and very liquid. Stir in onions to coat, lower heat to medium and add red pepper and garlic. Cook an additional minute. Add carrots and celery and cook until beginning to get tender, about five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add potatoes and stir to coat, then add vegetable juice, bay leaf, and reserved clam juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add clams, oregano, and parsley and cook for an additional five minutes. Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Serve with oyster crackers or saltines and spike with sriracha, Tabasco or other red pepper-based hot sauce.

*If you happen to have an additional bottle of clam juice in the pantry, you may substitute a cup of the vegetable juice with the bottled clam juice to pump up the briny flavor

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One Response to “Manhattan Clam Chowder: zesty, cozy, bacon free”

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  1. Manhattan Clam Chowder | Thai GardenThai Garden - October 15, 2015

    […] Some excerpts from my research paper focusing on the background and history of the Manhattan Clam Chowder and its rivalry with the New England Clam Chowder.__________________________________________________ To what degree is the red chowder’s supposed inferiority an actual reflection of consumers’ personal preference and gustatory experience? The history of this particular chowder dating back to the 19thcentury reveals a recipe with roots in East Coast immigrant populations as well as in working class families dealing with scarcity. Clam chowder, as we know it today, was popularized well after the eighteenth century when clams were being harvested and potatoes were finally incorporated in the kitchen. The word chowder comes from the French word chaudière, which refers to the type of cauldron in which the soup was cooked, neither refers to the ingredients nor sets a standard for the texture. There is great assortment of chowders, each honing in on local ingredients that are plentiful in that particular region, but there remains three essential ingredients that merit a soup the name “chowder”:  diced salt pork, onions cooked in fat and potato chunks. This name for the tomato-based clam chowder was likely to be introduced almost a century later during the 1930s as evidence by Virginia Elliot and Robert Jones’s in Soups and Sauces. The descriptor “Manhattan” was most likely first used as a pejorative term by New Englanders, who sought to demonstrate their opinion of this lesser chowder. It was during the 1890s, after Child published her recipe using ketchup that red chowder began to appear in New York as an imported dish by Italian and Portuguese immigrants.  At this time chowder could be found under the name of Coney Island Clam Chowder or Fulton Market Clam Chowder in Delmonico’s Restaurant, where the tomato-based chowder was first seen in New York. Manhattan’s The Grand Central Oyster Bar (Source) Some folklore in New England, in Maine in particular, went as far as to curse anyone who dare consume the Manhattan Clam Chowder with upset stomachs, hair loss and even death. The wild collective imagination of Maine residents inspired a state assemblyman to introduce a bill that would make it a statutory and culinary offense to include tomatoes into a chowder. The appearance of such folklore and political action in history not only shows the depth of the rivalry but also the near pandemonium that ensues when tradition is disrupted. For New Englanders, the substitution of cream for tomatoes was not seen as innovation but rather, as the corruption of the perfectly delicious white chowder in which they took pride. Source P.S. I’m interested in making Manhattan clam Chowder once I’m back in my own kitchen, but I don’t want to have to use bacon. I actually found a recipe and am curious to see if it’s ‘just as good’. If you’re interested here’s the link for bacon-free Manhattan Chowder: https://hotcheapeasy.com/2011/05/21/manhattan-clam-chowder-zesty-cozy-bacon-free/ […]

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