Coconut milk Clam chowder - belated welcome to Fall

It's FINALLY starting to get cold in Irvine. MOH and I were so excited to to see rain last night - yes, the rain lasted five minutes, but the cold breeze and light rain just made it "Fall" for us. The days get darker faster, there's this nice chilly wind in the air when you go running in the evening, and clouds hang in the sky to shade the sun. It's like fall just arrived!

As the weather gets cooler, MOH and I shift our eating habits from salads/stir fries to more hearty soups. MOH has this fascination with creamy soups. He loves pot pie, potato leek soup, and clam chowder, especially San Francisco clam chowder.

So when he asked me to try to make clam chowder, but a dairy free version, I was super hesitant. It's always hard to try to recreate a recipe of something that's really beloved. Most chowder recipes call for heavy cream or half-and-half, and lots of butter and all purpose flour, but none of these options were good. But after looking around at some great sites, there are some tricks - people have tried different milk alternatives like coconut milk. The results? Creamy decadence without the heavy caloric burden. Win win.

Chowder is super simple to make - you just need to make sure the bottom of your soup pot isn't burning. I like to make my chowder reminiscent of "new england" style, which has a thickened broth thanks to potatoes other starch components (other variants of clam chowder include tomatoes, red broth, asparagus, etc.).

All in all, the chowder took less than 40 minutes to make including prep time. To get it gluten free, I relied on the starch from the potatoes (I like russet, but I've heard that red potatoes might be more soft) and a little bit of cornstarch to thicken the soup (what I use for sup mang cua, a crab asparagus soup).

I was a bit hesitant to have MOH try it - he's been spoiled by clam chowder by SF and Monterey, but he liked the funky chowder and ate it happily with two slices of bread. I say "funky" only because I added in some unlikely chowder ingredients like carrots, corn, and green onions. The chowder turned out to be a cute mash-up of clam and corn chowder components and tasted super creamy and delicious!

If you like creamy, chunky soups, definitely give this recipe a shot!

Until next time, happy eating!

Ingredients (enough to serve 2): 

2 tbsp butter

1/2 onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1/2 cup carrots chopped

1 cup of water 

2 cups of potatoes (or 1-2 potatoes, depending on size) cubed

1 1/2 cups of coconut milk (more or less half a can)

1 6.5oz can of clams

1/2 can corn

Garlic salt to taste

Green onions as garnish

Protocol:

1. In a soup pot, add butter and turn up heat to medium

2. Throw in onions, celery and carrots and sautee until browned

3. Once browned, add water and potatoes and simmer with lid partially closed for about 10-15 minutes (I check on them every so often - the water will get absorbed by potatoes and the potatoes will become very soft)

4. Once potatoes softened, add in milk and canned clams (include the juice!)

5. Finish off soup with adding corn and do last minute seasoning with garlic salt and pepper (dill and a dash of tabasco can be added for extra flavor)

6. Garnish with green onions and enjoy!