McCarthy Family Fish Chowder

This McCarthy family chowder is classic coastal New England. Eight ingredients, a Dutch oven, and about an hour. Salt pork rendered down to crisp golden bits, sweet sauteed onions, cubed potatoes, fresh haddock, and enough whole milk to carry it all into soup territory. No flour, no thickener, no cream, and no fuss.

The salt pork is non-negotiable. It is the fat, the salt, and the smoky pork backbone of the whole chowder. Render it slowly until the pieces go brown and crisp, lift them out, and save them for the end. Cooking onions in that rendered fat gives you the deep flavor base that makes this chowder taste like a fisherman’s kitchen and not a can of soup.

The milk is stirred in at the end, not simmered through. High heat breaks dairy into grainy curds in a chowder, and you want a silky, barely-hot finish. Heat gently to just below a simmer and pull it before the boil. Old Yankee tradition says chowder tastes even better the next day. The potatoes and fish have had overnight to flavor the milk, and the whole thing thickens naturally.

Chef Tips

• Use Yukon gold or red potatoes rather than russets. They hold their shape in the simmer while russets fall apart into a starchy thickener.
• Cut fish and potatoes into similar-sized pieces so they cook at the same rate. Uneven cuts mean mushy fish or undercooked potatoes.
• Add a knob of cold butter at the end and swirl it in off the heat. It adds richness and glossiness that the basic recipe just misses.
• Serve with oyster crackers or common crackers (the round New England style). Split the cracker, soak it in chowder, enjoy the crunch followed by the soft.

Variations

• Swap the haddock for cod, hake, or pollock. All New England white fish work. Avoid salmon; it overwhelms.
• Stir in a cup of corn kernels for a corn-fish chowder spin more common in Maine.
• For a richer version, replace half a cup of the milk with heavy cream. Add it at the very end to avoid separating.