Doesn't quite fit the briefing of food porn (imo it's pretty hard to make soups/stews aesthetically pleasing), but sure did taste good.
Didn't have the cream I'd normally use, but made do with 2% milk and buttermilk powder, and then I added potato flakes and a bit of gelatin for some extra body.
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Hah! Well you've hit the nail on the head, I'm in California and clam chowder with good fresh clams is a rare treat.
I use canned clams in my chowder, and I usually reach for some fatty pork product to render fat for sauteing the veggies and as a finishing garnish (I once splurged on some guanciale, but wasn't a discernable enough upgrade to be worth repeating). Interesting to know that the chowder isn't traditionally thick. I can't think of a single time I've had it at a restaurant where it wasn't, which is why I was adding extra thickeners to try to match that expectation.
Yeah, usually that really thick, bleach-white chowder is frowned at. Really traditional chowder only uses the starch from the potatoes and cream to thicken it, and it's more soup-like than the kind that's basically the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Really traditional chowder would someotimes used crushed ship biscuits (hard tack) as a thickener, which is why some people use flour/roux these days. Hard tack is basically the progenitor of modern crackers, including the often served oyster crackers. I like a crusty sourdough myself. Better for the mop up work!
Rhode Island, a suburb of Boston (๐) has an interesting chowder that has a clear broth that is pretty good too. It's basically identical minus the heavy cream. Great for people that don't get along with lactose.
Also, pro tip, if you don't have fresh clams, get a bottle of clam juice to add to taste. Usually you steam the clams open and then take out the meat and chop them up for the chowder, and you use the steaming juice leftover to add more clam flavor, as desired. Bottle of clam juice does the same basic thing (without needing to strain out the grit).
Usually the best chowders aren't brilliant white. They're a little darker like yours and almost look a little "dirty," for lack of a better word. If someone served me a bowl of what you made, I would expect it probably will taste great just from the eye test.