New England Oyster Chowder aka chowda- Recipe

Watch my Oyster Chowder reel here.

So rich and buttery, the best oyster chowder / chowda!

Typically I have clam chowder all the time when we go to Maine but once in a blue moon I’ll see oyster chowder on the menu too!

I used Wandering Waders from @whitestoneoysters. They’re pre-shucked and jarred oysters and they were so fresh and fragrant. Loved that I didn’t have to shuck any oysters for this!

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INGREDIENTS

¼ pound bacon (or salted pork)

3/4 cup chopped onion (1 medium white onion)
2 garlic cloves (minced, or pressed through masher)
1 cup chopped celery (2 celery stalks)
5 white potatoes, (peeled, cut into ½-inch cubes, about 5 cups)
1/2 cup dry white wine
~3 water (or as needed)
16-20 large oysters or 1/2 pint of large oysters (and their liquor if using fresh, I used half a pint jar of Wandering Waders from White Stone Oysters) 

2 cup cream or half and half
2 tbs butter
1 tbs flour 
Salt (to taste, about 1-2 tsp, I used about 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp smoked sea salt from Maldon)
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 drops Tobasco hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of cayenne pepper (1/8 tsp)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tbs lemon juice

Chopped Italian parsley
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

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PREPARATION

1. Spread bacon in a cast iron pan over medium heat and cook until browned fat has rendered. (I used an airfryer for about 15 min at 390F). Then transfer bacon on a paper towel and save the pork fat. 

2. Add 1 tablespoon of rendered fat into a large pot or dutch oven. Mix chopped onion, garlic, celery and saute until soft. 

3. Add potatoes, wine, clam juice (or oyster liquor) and enough water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a slow simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes).

4. Thicken up chowder by adding melted butter/flour mixture and lightly mash some of the potatoes to thicken the chowder more. 

5. Add the strained & roughly chopped oysters until the edges curl. I ended up rough chopping some of these so there wasn’t any huge oysters in the chowder.

6. Season with salt, pepper and rest of seasonings. Simmer until the oysters curl, 5-10 minutes.
Pour in the cream, bring to a boil and let simmer, taste, add a little chopped parsely to taste, and adjust seasonings as needed (salt, cream, paprika, pepper, or more flour slurry to thicken). 

Serve in bowls- Crumble in some of the reserved bacon crisps and parsley and sprinkle in some smoked paprika to taste.