This isn’t really a chowder - in that it is not blended or mashed in any way - but it is a rich seafood soup. It takes on elements of Thai and New England cuisine without belonging to either. I like it, Donna didn’t, your mileage may vary.
Oyster Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
1 85gm tin Smoked Oysters
1 Massel Beef stock cube
1 teaspoon Nam Prik Klang Dong (Thai dried chilli shrimp, available from some Asian grocers)
Handful flat white rice noodles (the larger ones, as sometimes used for pad thai)
Boiling water (sufficient to cover the noodles)
1 310gm tin Creamed Corn
1 teaspoon Valcom Red Curry Paste
Boil the water in a medium saucepan, and add chilli prawn, red curry paste, stock cube and noodles. Stir. A minute or so later, add the creamed corn. When the noodles are soft, add the smoked oysters (and any oil in the tin). Stir for another five or so minutes and serve.
Serves two ordinary folk (or one hungry bugger) 
This recipe is adapted from one that Stephanie Alexander wrote in The Cook’s Companion (one of my favourite cookbooks of all time). It serves two people as a main or four as an entree.
You will need:
- 500gm Scallops (frozen are fine, thaw first)
- one onion, chopped finely
- two cloves garlic, chopped finely
- two sticks celery
- two tablespoons olive oil
- chopped red capsicum
- 425gm tin tomatoes
- one or more of basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup white wine
Brown a finely chopped onion in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add a 425gm tin of chopped tomatoes. Add whatever herbs you have from this list: basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, as well as some salt and pepper, and cook until the tomatoes are a nice salsa-y consistency. To the tomato mixture add a chopped red capsicum, two cloves chopped garlic and two sticks of celery. Cook until the celery starts to soften.
Heat a separate pan - when hot add a tablespoon of olive oil. When very hot add 500gm scallops out of the shell (the Coles supermarket frozen ones, while not as good as fresh, certainly serve in this faux cuisine version) and sear for not more than one minute, turning gently two to three times. Pour in 1/4 cup white wine. Not more than a minute later, add the tomato/vegetable mixture and stir through, cooking for not more than one additional minute (in other words, the scallops are not cooked for more than 2 1/2 minutes total). Serve immediately in big bowls.
Stephanie recommends serving it with toast - we rarely eat carbohydrates of an evening so usually avoid bread, but I think it would be a good accompanyment. She also recommends making the tomato sauce from scratch using fresh tomatoes - this would be a nice touch in the summer/autumn.
This recipe was adapted from one originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
