What Type Of Clams For Clam Chowder?

Contrary to popular belief, New England has a wide variety of clam chowders. If you reside far from New England, you might only be familiar with the well-known creamy version.

But if you reside in New England, you may be familiar with the other regional styles, so you might be able to name four different varieties of clam chowder.

You might also be able to name five different types of clam chowder in New England if you’re Portuguese and/or reside on the south coast of Massachusetts or Rhode Island.

I’ll explain more about that below. Let’s begin by discussing the more popular varieties of clam chowder recipes and how they differ from one another.

This is the rock star of chowder, the wildly popular creamy style that is so universally adored by palates that it is without a doubt New England’s most famous dish, as seen in the image above.

Its defining feature is milk, but more commonly, cream. To the dismay of purists, it is frequently thickened with a roux made of flour and butter.

Get 80 regionally inspired recipes that pay homage to the Northeastern traditions of America, from Rhode Island to Maine.

Clams, clam broth, cream, potatoes, onions, and bacon (or salt pork) are the traditional ingredients. To distinguish it from red clam chowders made with tomatoes, it is sometimes referred to as a white clam chowder or a Boston clam chowder.

How to make a good New England clam chowder is a topic of endless debate. It’s amazing how many variations there are for something with only six main ingredients.

There are endless arguments about how to prepare and combine the ingredients for the best flavor, the best way to thicken a chowder (some say never to thicken), salt pork vs. bacon, and other topics.

The majority of people in New England would at least concur that fresh quahogs (local hard-shell clams) and their delectable juices are preferred to canned clams and bottled clam juice. That is undoubtedly what I recommend in my recipe, which is available here:

The absence of milk or cream is the defining characteristic of Rhode Island clam chowder. Some people refer to this dairy-free chowder as Clear Broth Clam Chowder. Clam broth or fish stock are two options for the broth. Sometimes herbs are included quite liberally.

The remainder of the ingredients are very similar to those in New England clam chowder. But it has a completely different character. It has a stronger, saltier flavor of the sea without any milk or cream to balance things out, especially if fresh quahogs and a homemade clam broth are used (as opposed to canned clams).

I think all varieties of clam chowder are delicious, including Rhode Island chowder. You’ll adore this less well-known variation if you enjoy the strong, briny flavor of fresh clams. Here is a fantastic article with more information and a recipe:

Manhattan clam chowder is well-liked in southern New England, particularly along the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, despite being more commonly associated with New York City.

Its distinctive quality is that it is tomato-based, which is why it is sometimes referred to as Red clam chowder. It frequently contains herbs and spices like thyme and oregano as well as vegetables like carrots and peppers.

Although some claim Portuguese immigrants were first, it is believed to have started with Italian immigrants. However, few things infuriate and disgust New Englanders more than tomatoes in chowder (especially those who reside in Massachusetts and points north). The white, dairy-based clam chowders are frequently mocked and considered superior to Manhattan clam chowder.

Personally, I used to agree with this sentiment. I never really liked it. The majority of restaurant versions have barely any clam flavor and resemble a boring vegetable soup more than anything else.

After that, I made it myself occasionally, but I used actual quahogs and fewer vegetables. It was then that my opinion changed dramatically. It turns out that clams and tomatoes can produce clam chowder that is just as good as clams and cream. If you don’t believe me, try this recipe for a milder variation that emphasizes the symmetry of fresh clams and tomatoes:

In New England, chowders have a slightly different flavor the further north you go. In Maine, there are three defining features of clam chowder. The first is that soft-shell clams, also known as steamers, are included in equal amounts to hard-shell clams, if not more.

Maine’s chilly, icy waters have historically been better for soft-shell clam populations, though sadly, that may be changing as a result of global warming.

The second is that roux-based thickeners are not as common. The third is that cream is less frequently used than milk. This indicates that the brothier end of the chowder spectrum is where Maine clam chowders fall.

But despite that, there’s a reason I strongly advise against using milk in clam chowder. What to use instead is explained in my recipe for this kind of clam chowder, along with why:

It exists in Portuguese-speaking neighborhoods in places like New Bedford, Fall River, and Providence on the southern coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

It’s a zesty tomato-based chowder that is entirely distinct from Manhattan clam chowder and is very special. Portuguese staples, linguica or chourico (smoked and cured hot sausages), green peppers, garlic, and Portuguese spices are included in the ingredients.

It’s one of the best chowders I’ve ever had, and I challenge anyone who thinks tomatoes in chowder are a bad idea to give it a try before passing judgment. Find a recipe here:

Strange-looking, isn’t it? Yes, this one should raise some eyebrows. It’s a New England clam chowder that nobody is familiar with. But there’s a story behind it. Let me explain.

When looking for chowder recipes for my upcoming book, New England Soups from the Sea, a few years ago, I stumbled upon a peculiar chowder known as a Long Island Clam Chowder. The chowder is a fusion of the red Manhattan style and the white New England style because Long Island is geographically situated between Manhattan and New England. Several online articles claimed it was a new trend that was becoming popular.

A guide to the clam varieties you’re most likely to find in the US, from littlenecks and cherrystones to steamers, razor clams, and more.

There are thousands of different species of clams that vary in size, shape, and, of course, flavor, from the pinhead-sized specimens used in Vietnamese cuisine to the giant guy that passed away to serve as decorations for Ivanka Trump’s Thanksgiving table. Clams, however, continue to be firmly regional despite the fast globalization of the food industry. On the West Coast of the United States, Manila clams are the most popular shellfish, followed by geoduck and razor clams. On the East Coast, the quahog reigns supreme and is served in a variety of ways, including steamed in a wine-rich broth, baked in the shell, stewed in chowders, and tossed with linguine. Of course, soft-shell clams are unbeatable in some parts of the Northeast (and in some minds), whether they are served fried with a plump belly or steamed with drawn butter on the side.

Clams may not be particularly attractive when they are first removed from their shells, but their briny bite and springy chew make for a delicious combination that complements a variety of dishes in cuisines around the world. Additionally, none of the commonly found clam varieties in the US fall into the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch’s red “avoid” category of sustainability, so you can eat your pasta alla vongole or clams casino guilt-free. Clams, which are filter feeders, even contribute to environmental cleanup by filtering out pollutants from the water as they bubble about in tidal flats and dig into beaches with their strong muscles.

Those muscles—and what they do—gave the mollusk its name. According to Jay Jacob’s exhaustive book on the origin of food words, The Eaten Word, the word “clam” comes from an old form of “clamp,” which, when used in its full form—the name “clamshell” (“clampshell”)—describes how tightly the mollusk shuts. That, unfortunately, is about as close as we can get to defining what a clam is or isnt. The Oxford Companion to Food points out that, while the name should refer only to bivalves that can close their shells completely, this definition actually eliminates a few accepted clam types (razors, for example) and includes oysters and mussels. But we’re here to talk more about consuming clams than their confusing nomenclature.

Clams have been consumed for centuries, if not millennia, as evidenced by the countless mounds of antiquated shell fragments that line coastlines all over the world. And with good reason: they are plentiful, delectable, and beneficial (rich in iron and vitamin B). This is true even of the varieties of clams that aren’t typically eaten, whether they’re not worth eating because of their high ratio of tough skin to edible meat, like the horse clam, or because of seasonal or geographical diseases, like butter clams, which can store toxins for many years.

However, the majority of the time in the US, clams are edible, as the Europeans who arrived on the shores of the New World quickly discovered from the locals who had long been consuming a dish that is now known as clam chowder. Furthermore, Europeans learned that Native Americans in the Northeast valued the clamshells, which they used to barter with European colonists. As a result, the term “clams” eventually came to refer to US dollars because polished and shaped quahog clamshells signified particular accomplishments, status, and wealth.

Because there are so many clams in this country, most of them don’t cost too many clams, as it were, making clams a uniquely American food that is both affordable and available. However, a few foreign species are absent from the US. Blood clam imports from Southeast Asia are prohibited by the FDA because of the risk of diseases like hepatitis and typhoid because of their low oxygen environments. (They can, however, occasionally be imported from Mexico and found in New England.) In the US, the brackishwater Japanese clam known as shijimi, which is frequently used in miso soup and is believed to be a hangover cure, is considered an invasive species.

But enough about the clams you can’t eat; the US coasts are literally lined with clams you can eat. They can be grilled, steamed, sautéed, added to pasta, sautéed, sautéed, pan-fried, deep-fried, raw, or consumed in chowder. If you reside (or are visiting) close to the coast, speak with your state’s fish and wildlife department to find out where, when, and what kinds of clams are permitted to be collected there. Some even provide recipes for the local species and instructions on how to forage for them.

Although quahogs vary in size and age, you don’t need to worry: whether you’re picking up a bag of smaller cherrystones at your neighborhood grocery store or raking for giant chowder clams on Block Island, they’ll still make a great chowder. When you get home, make sure to clean and purge your clams. After cleaning the bivalves’ shells, put them in a bowl of salt water to soak, which will help them expel any remaining grit.

Most Americans, including those from New England, only know one type of clam chowder: the creamy variety. Growing up outside of Providence, Rhode Island, I was not an exception: a cup of the thick, potato-heavy clam stew was frequently the star of countless lunches, whether on weekday excursions to the nearby beaches of Newport, Bristol, or Narragansett, or on family vacations to the Cape, southern Maine, or coastal New Hampshire. Although the occasional restaurant served the tomato-based Manhattan style (sacrilege! ), I wasn’t aware of Rhode Island clam chowder until I moved out of the state. “.

It turns out that a few eateries have been serving the cult-classic dish for years, especially in the southern part of the state and on nearby Block Island. It tends to raise questions in the minds of fans of New England-style cuisine because of its clear broth, which is reminiscent of the region’s murky seawater. When you order Rhode Island clam chowder in any restaurant in the area today, your server will always pause, assess you, and inquire as to your knowledge of the dish.

I chose to make a pork-free version of the chowder in order to let the purity of the clams come through, even though some chowder recipes call for lightly sautéing the aromatics with smoky bacon fat or salt pork. To ensure even cooking, dice the onion, celery, and potatoes into small, uniform pieces. Then, without browning, gently sauté the vegetables in butter or olive oil until fragrant and just starting to soften. Before adding the saved cooking liquid, add a few fresh herbs and cook for an additional minute or so, until the herbs have slightly mellowed.

Turn off the heat after the clams have barely begun to cook, and then strain the cooking liquid to create the flavorful chowder base. When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and combine any juices with the cooking liquid that was set aside. Chop the clams into small, bite-sized pieces. Potato, onion, and celery are cooked together with a bay leaf.

15 Different Types Of Clam That You May Not Know About

The ultimate list of clams is the section of this article that has been the most eagerly anticipated. As I mentioned earlier, there are many different clam varieties, but some of them are the most well-known and simple to include in your dishes. Let’s take a look at what they are and how you can use them.

FAQ

What are the best canned clams to use for clam chowder?

• Cento Whole Baby Clams.
• Bumblebee Whole Baby Clams.
• Bar Harbor Chopped Clams.
• Chicken of the Sea Whole Baby Clams.
• Crown Prince Natural Boiled Baby Clams.

What are the best types of clams to eat?

• CHOWDER. (Mercenaria mercenaria) …
• STEAMER. (Mya arenaria) …
• CHERRYSTONE. (Mercenaria mercenaria) …
• NEW ZEALAND COCKLE. (Austrovenus stutchburyi) …
• RAZOR. (Ensis directus) …
• MANILA. (Ruditapes philippinarum)

Are little neck clams the same as steamers?

steamers. Perhaps you’re unclear about the distinction between littlenecks and steamers. While steamers have a soft shell, littlenecks have a hard shell. Additionally, because soft-shell clams are never eaten raw, they are frequently referred to as “steamers” or “fryers.”

What are the two types of clam chowders?

New England clam chowder is thick, creamy, and milky-white. Manhattan clam chowder is tomatoey, brothy, and clear. The clams give both types a clean, briny, and faintly sweet flavor, but that’s about it.