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RECIPE: Classic New England Whitefish Chowder


  • Author: Craig Fear
  • Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 ounces fatty slab bacon (about 4 large strips) or salt pork, roughly diced into 1/2- inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons butter, if needed
  • 1 large or 2 medium yellow onions, roughly diced into 1/2– inch pieces
  • 4 to 5 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed and stems discarded
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 4 cups fish stock (see note)
  • 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, roughly chopped into 1/2- inch cubes
  • Salt
  • 2 pounds any lean, mild whitefish fillets
  • 1 to 2 cups heavy cream and/or half- and- half
  • Optional seasonings, to taste:
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt pork cracklings or bacon bits
  • Fresh chives, chopped
  • Fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

  1. Heat the bacon in a medium stock pot over low heat until a few tablespoons of fat render out. Raise the heat to medium and brown the meatier pieces, being careful not to burn them. Remove the browned pieces with a slotted spoon but leave the fat in the pot. Before serving the chowder, you can reheat the crispy browned cracklings from the salt pork or the bits from the bacon and add them as a topping.
  2. Add the butter, if needed, for additional cooking fat. Add the onions, thyme, and bay leaves. Sauté about 5 minutes, until the onions are softened.
  3. Add the fish stock and bring to a boil.
  4. Add the potatoes, cover the pot, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.
  5. Add salt to taste.
  6. Add the fish and simmer gently for a few minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chowder sit until the fish is cooked through. Thicker and denser pieces of fish will need a little more time to cook than thinner and flakier pieces.
  7. Once the fish is cooked, add 1 cup of the heavy cream, stir gently, and taste. Add up to 1 more cup of heavy cream or half-and-half to desired taste.
  8. Ladle into individual bowls and add optional seasonings to taste.

Notes

Fish stock note: New England Soups from the Sea contains 7 recipes for different types of fresh seafood stocks, and they are used as the foundation for many of the chowders, bisques, and stews in the book. But making a seafood stock can be intimidating for some, so author Craig Fear offers suggested alternatives and one favorite store-bought fish stock. For this fish stew, if you are not making a fresh seafood stock, he recommends either using bottled clam juice or a store-bought fish stock called Aneto Fish Broth, available on Amazon and in some markets. Fear says he was “actually shocked by how good this product tastes.” He suggests avoiding pretty much every other commonly found commercial fish stock such as Imagine or Kitchen Basics. Fear’s full blog on the Best Store-bought Seafood Stocks can be read in full here.