A Canadian Love Affair: Seafood Chowder Recipe (2024)

This post is part of theCanadian Food Experience Project, a project begun June 2013. As we(participants) share our collective stories through our regional food experiences and food memories, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity. This month’s topic is “A Canadian Love Affair”, which can apply to absolutely anything we love relating to Canadian food, from a certain chef to a beautiful ingredient to an inspiring cookbook to a memorable meal. What first comes to mind for you?

When I mentioned the topic to my Mom, she had an immediate response: Seafood Chowder. After a visit to the East Coast of Canada several years ago, she has been altering, tweaking, and perfecting a seafood chowder recipe worthy of any 5-star seaside restaurant. Knowing I could never top that Canadian love affair, I asked her to guest post and she was kind enough to agree! Thanks, Mom, for writing about your love affair for my blog :)

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Back in 1983, when our oldest daughter was only 3 months old, my husband and I drove, with our baby, across the country, from Burlington, Ontario, all the way to Houston, British Columbia. My husband was going to be ordained as a minister in his first congregation. There was some sadness with parting from family in Ontario, but also excitement at moving to beautiful British Columbia.

Over the years my husband changed congregations a few times, but we stayed on the westward side, with our longest time in one place, 14 years, in the Fraser Valley. We had always said we would like to see other parts of Canada, including the Maritime provinces. We loved the West Coast with its mountains and the Pacific Ocean, but we had heard that the East Coast was also very beautiful. We thought, someday, when we are back in Ontario, or living somewhere closer to the East, we will go there for holidays. But the years passed and it seemed we had become, quite happily and permanently, westerners. So, in 2005, we decided to make a trip with our 2 youngest daughters. We would fly to Halifax, tour the Maritimes, then stop in Ontario on the way back home to visit family. After all, it didn’t seem like we would be living anywhere in the East anytime soon, if ever.

It was this trip that inspired my search for a recipe for perfect seafood chowder.

I always knew I liked chowder, but until I travelled the East Coast, I didn’t realize how much. My husband and daughters thought I was a little obsessed and maybe even a tad odd when I would order seafood chowder for every lunch and supper. It was a bit different but so delicious everywhere I had it, and I just couldn’t get enough of it. So while I wouldn’t claim to have found a recipe that matches all the scrumptious bowls of chowder I had in the Maritimes, this recipe comes mighty close and does the job of satisfying my chowder cravings until I can get back to Peggy’s Cove, Cape Breton Island, P.E.I and all those other beautiful places we visited in 2005.

By the way, as for being permanent westerners, the very next year, 2006, my husband, two youngest daughters and I moved back to Ontario, leaving behind beautiful British Columbia. Are we permanent Ontario dwellers now? Who knows? But we have never been back to the East Coast, so it is a good thing we went when we did or you might never have gotten this recipe.

Every time I make this soup it is a little bit different because I tend to add what seafood I have on hand or is on sale that week. If you live somewhere where fresh fish is readily available, that will give the best flavour. Otherwise, frozen and thawed seafood still make a delicious soup. I always put in whitefish of some kind, then add what else I can find and can afford. Scallops are my favourite, crab is good, and even salmon adds a nice flavour. You might just want this for every lunch and dinner too.


4.8 from 4 reviews

Creamy Seafood Chowder

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A hearty seafood chowder you can personalize with your favourite seafood, or whatever's available to you. Served with a side of fresh crusty bread, this is the best kind of dining!

Author: Anna {hiddenponies.com}

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 6 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 small onion, cut in ½” dice
  • 1 leek, white part only, cut in ½” dice
  • 1 large carrot, cut in ½” dice
  • 2 stalks celery, cut in ½” dice
  • 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 large potato, peeled and cut in ½” dice
  • 4 cups fish stock (or chicken stock if necessary)
  • 1 lb (500g) boneless, skinless whitefish (haddock, cod,etc), thawed if frozen, and cut into 2” pieces
  • 1 lb (500g) scallops, crab, shrimp, cooked lobster or any combination of your favourite seafood
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup (125ml) whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Cook bacon in large saucepan or Dutch oven until crisp. Use slotted spoon to remove bacon from pan and drain cooked bacon pieces on paper towel. Discard all but 1 tbsp of bacon fat.
  2. Add onion, leek, carrot, celery and thyme to bacon fat in pan. Cook, stirring, on medium heat, for 3-5 minutes, until slightly softened but not browned. Sprinkle with flour and cook gently 3-4 minutes longer. Whisk in stock. Bring to a boil.
  3. Add potatoes. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add whitefish and cook 5 minutes. Add remaining seafood and continue cooking 3 more minutes, or until all seafood is tender and cooked. Stir in whipping cream and cooked bacon. Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve hot.

Other posts contributed to the Canadian Food Experience Project:

My Most Cherished Canadian Food Recipe:Best Ever Nanaimo Bars

A Regional Canadian Food:Five Minute Homemade Raspberry Jam

A Canadian Christmas Tradition:Tourtiere

A Canadian Resolution: Homemade Bread

Canadian Preserving Traditions: Red Pepper Jelly

A Canadian Love Affair: Seafood Chowder Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What two ingredients must be present for the soup to be called a chowder? ›

Liquid – Milk or cream is essential to the recipe, though many variations also include the use of vegetable stock to thin the stew. Thickener – Most recipes use some sort of ingredient to thicken the stew like cornstarch, flour, or potatos.

How do you thicken seafood chowder? ›

Flour: Thicken the chowder up with all-purpose flour. Seasonings: Season the fish chowder with Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Evaporated milk: Evaporated milk makes the chowder even thicker and richer.

How long will fish chowder last in the fridge? ›

Fish chowder will hold up for 4 days in your refrigerator. And the truth is it will taste better the second day when the ingredients have to time build their flavors.

What is seafood chowder made of? ›

Tender shrimp, fish and scallops are combined in a creamy white wine broth with veggies. This flavor packed chowder recipe is a comfort food that can be easily enjoyed at home any day of the week! A really great New England Clam Chowder is one of our favorite ways to enjoy a bowl of comfort food.

What ingredient does chowder always have? ›

Customarily, chowder included onion, potatoes, and cream.

What is the most important ingredient in soup? ›

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

When to add heavy cream to chowder? ›

Slowly add the the butter/flour/poaching liquid mixture to the pot with the potatoes. Add the fish and scallops. Continue cooking and stirring until chowder thickens. Add the cream and stir until heated through, but do not boil.

What is a substitute for heavy cream in seafood chowder? ›

Evaporated milk works well as a substitute for heavy cream in sauces or soups calling for whole milk. In the making of evaporated milk, regular cow's milk is pressure-cooked until it sheds about half of its water content, making it thicker in consistency. For a healthy substitute, try evaporated skim milk.

What goes well with fish chowder? ›

You can go for oyster crackers, warm sourdough bread, salad, french fries… the list goes on. This tasty soup is packed with clam lumps and tender potatoes.

What is a thickening agent for seafood chowder? ›

To do so, make a cornflour slurry by combing equal parts cornflour and cold water, broth, or soup. Add the slurry to your chowder and cook it for a few minutes to allow it to thicken without adding any unwanted taste.

Can you make seafood chowder ahead of time? ›

Make-Ahead and Storage

Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day, or until thawed, before reheating and serving. How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of fish chowder to a small pot and cook over low heat while whisking until warm. You can also heat it in a microwave until warm.

What nationality is seafood chowder? ›

The word chowder is a corruption of the French chaudière (“cauldron”), and chowder may have originated among Breton fishermen who brought the custom to Newfoundland, whence it spread to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England.

What makes a soup a chowder? ›

What Is Chowder? A chowder is a thick, creamy soup featuring diced or chopped ingredients, left chunky for a hearty final result. Traditional chowder recipes feature seafood ingredients—for instance, clams or fish—while others forgo seafood in favor of vegetables or starches, like corn.

What 2 ingredients are used to thicken the soup? ›

Add flour or cornflour

You can also use flour or cornflour to thicken a soup. Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer.

What are the 2 basic categories of soup? ›

Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid (broth) than stews. In traditional French cuisine, soups are classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups.

What are the two types of chowder? ›

New England clam chowder is thick, creamy, and milky-white. Manhattan clam chowder is tomatoey, brothy, and clear. Both types share a clean, briny, and slightly-sweet flavor thanks to the clams—but that's about it.

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