Conch Chowder Caribbean Style
Conch chowder has always held a special place in my heart. It takes my taste buds and soul directly to the Bahamas or Florida Keys. Queen conch (pronounced ‘konk’) is much more than a shell souvenir from the tropics. Its sweet meat turns into delicious fried strips (known as ‘cracked conch’), fritters, and this hearty, warming soup. Similar to a Manhattan style chowder but much different all the same. Bursting with flavors of the Caribbean with a fragrant heat provided by the Scotch bonnet pepper.
While not the easily available outside of Florida the Caribbean, it is worth hunting down. Frozen conch meat is usually found outside of tropical climates and can be ordered from your fishmonger.
The most important part of utilizing this marine mollusk is tenderizing the sweet meat. Trust us its well worth the effort.
Caribbean Style Conch Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3 carrots chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 1 scotch bonnet chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme removed from stem, finely chopped
- 1 tsp allspice ground
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 8 oz. clam juice
- 1 lemon, juiced approx. 2 tbsps
- 1 lbs conch meat cleaned. tenderized and minced
- 16 oz chicken stock
- 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 small bunch parsley chopped, approx. 1/4 cup
- 1/4 cup green onion chopped
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a 6 quart stock pot over medium high heat the olive oil. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots, and scotch bonnets. Sauté until soft add garlic, thyme, allspice, and bay leaves. stir to incorporate and continue to sauté until fragrant.
- Add tomatoes, chicken stock, clam juice and bring to a boil. add the conch meat, stir and reduce to a simmer cook for 35 minutes uncovered.
- Add lemon juice, vinegar, parsley, green onions and season with salt and pepper. simmer for another 5 minutes. serve soup hot.
