With years of local fishing (and home cooking) experience, it’s no surprise fisherman Spero Kartanos has honed the perfect seafood chowder recipe. Here’s his recipe for a delicious winter-warming chowder.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 24 to 48 clams or pipis, ½ kg reef fish (cubed), ½ kg prawns (peeled and chopped), sand crab meat from 2 sand crabs, ½ kg Tasmanian scallops (with roe on)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 strips of bacon, diced
- 2 leeks, chopped
- 3 large red skin potatoes, diced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine
- 2 cups of cream
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
- 1 tsp each of freshly ground pepper and salt
- 1 tbsp of tabasco sauce and 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
- 400ml fish stock and 400ml clam stock (you can make clam stock when cooking clams and pipis in step one of the method below) or alternatively, just use 800ml clam stock.
METHOD
- In 1 litre of water or fish stock add clams and pipis and bring to boil over high heat until they have opened. Once opened drain and keep stock for later.
- Remove clams and pipis from shells and set aside. In the same pot add the butter and the olive oil, sauté onions and celery until translucent, then add garlic, bay leaves and leeks and sauté until all soft. In the meantime, fry the diced bacon until hard and crispy and set aside (you will add this at the end).
- Add diced potatoes to the onions, leeks etc. mixture, then add thyme and sauté for 3 – 4 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking until wine has evaporated.
- Add clam or fish stock and cook until potatoes are soft and liquid has reduced.
- Add cream, tabasco and Worcestershire, and add all the seafood and cook on low heat for
10 minutes. - Add bacon bits and top with chopped parsley and serve.
