Andrew Zimmern’s The Best Clam Chowder Recipe

Directions

Pour the stock into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the clams and cover. Cook until just open, about 8 minutes. Remove the clams and strain the broth through a strainer lined with cheesecloth (or a coffee filter) and reserve.

Shuck the cooked clams and coarsely chop them. Reserve.

Heat the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, chile, onion, celery, and carrots. When the vegetables appear glassy, 12 to 15 minutes, add the celery seeds and fennel seeds and cook for another minute. Add the potatoes and the reserved broth and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the clams and heavy cream and season with salt. Reduce the heat to low and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes to thicken the cream a little. Spoon into bowls and garnish the clam chowder with minced parsley and chives. Serve with buttered toast.

Basic Fish Stock

Makes 3 quarts

A tip for making fish stock is to not disturb it. The less you move the stock while you’re cooking it and straining it, the clearer both the liquid and the flavor will be. Stock captures the essence of its ingredients, so using the highest quality is of the utmost importance. If you don’t have fish bones on hand, you’ll be able to find them at a specialty fishmonger. Seek out the cartilaginous fins, heads, and collars, as they are particularly good for giving body, richness, and depth of flavor to stock. In this recipe, we call for bones from the flaky white flesh fish category — fish with lean, clean flavor — but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a great stock from more robust-flavored species. For example, salmon head stock is delicious, but the process of making it is more like making tea, as you steep it rather than simmer it.

I buy bay leaves by the pound and use them copiously, especially in stocks and soups. If you are more modest with your bay leaf consumption than I am, you don’t need to include all ten as we do here. Even one will add a noticeable depth of character to the broth. — Barton Seaver

Ingredients

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or butter

10 allspice berries

1 knob fresh ginger (about the size of your thumb)

10 bay leaves

1 or 2 cardamom pods

10 black peppercorns

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

1 pound vegetable trim (fennel and fronds, onion, celery, carrots, leeks)

3 pounds fish bones and/or trimmings (preferably from mild-flavored fish such as flounder, cod, and halibut)

Heavy pinch of salt

2 cups white wine

Directions

Heat the oil or melt the butter in a large, wide pot (8 quarts or bigger) over medium-low heat. Add the allspice, ginger, bay leaves, cardamom, black peppercorns, and fennel seeds and toast until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the vegetable trim and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the fish bones, salt, and wine. Increase the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the alcohol aroma has dissipated, about 5 minutes. Add 3 quarts cold water and bring to a low simmer.

Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let the stock rest for 10 minutes, allowing the solids to settle. Ladle the liquid off and pour the rest through a strainer into a bowl. Once you reach the bottom of the pot, pour the remaining liquid through a strainer into a separate bowl. Let it rest for a few minutes to allow the particles to settle.

Ladle off the clear liquid from the top, discarding any liquid that is murky. Discard all the solids and combine the two stocks. Use immediately or store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or the freezer for up to 6 months.

Excerpted from The Blue Food Cookbook, provided courtesy of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2025 by Fed By Blue. Reprinted by permission.