Corn Chowder

Unlike corn chowder, a traditional chowder soup is one that derives from maritime traditions, so it is very common in sea-side communities, especially in the British Isles and the East Coast of Canada and the U.S. Chowder is a thick soup that can be made on board a sailing vessel with items that are typically available on a long voyage: salted pork fatback for flavor, crushed sea-biscuits for thickening, and freshly caught seafood.

Corn chowder, on the other hand, is thickened with both corn (whole and with corn starch) as well as flour and potatoes.

Both types of chowder often use dairy products for extra richness, or else tomato for extra flavor as in Manhattan Clam Chowder.

Ingredients

1 chopped onion
2 chopped (peeled) potatoes
1 chopped green pepper
pat of butter
1 can creamed corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
milk (1/2 a cup to a cup)

Preparation

1. Melt butter in soup pot on medium low heat.

2. Add onions, green pepper and salt, and saute until onions are soft.

3. Add potatoes, and continue to cook until the potatoes start to soften.

4. Add creamed corn and milk to desired consistency.

5. Add paprika and heat through

Notes

Like many soups that act as bases for sea food soups, this soup contains no meat stock, opting instead for the subtle flavors of the vegetables and corn. However, should you decide to add some seafood, feel free to experiment by adding either some type of seafood stock (shell fish, lobster, fish, etc.) or even a bit of chicken stock. However, the comparitively strong taste of beef stock would overpower this corn chowder, so I don't recommend it. The other option, of course, is to simply use the salted pork fatback, but this certainly not necessary!

Also, there are many other spice options instead of paprika you can try. Any of the green, herbacious spices would work well, with the possible exception of rosemary, which can be tough. Also, dill is a great additive if you are adding some types of fish, most notably salmon. Cumin, tumeric and coriander are all good options as well.

Tips and tricks

The creamed corn is what makes this soup so easy to make, because the corn has had a chance to release some of its starch into the liquid. The potatoes help to some degree, but as they don't cook too long they don't really have too much of an effect.

If you decide to use fresh corn, there are a couple of things you can do to help thicken the soup. First, you can simply cook it longer, which will give both the corn and the potatoes time to release starch into the broth. You will need to bring the soup to a boil to help the starch thicken, but you can reduce the heat as soon as you get to a boil.

The other option is to start with a white sauce, which you can make by following the steps on my white sauce page.

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