Seafood Chowder

Dill

I am a fan of 'Chef at Home' and 'Chef at Large' cooking shows on the Asian Food Channel but I still don't remember the chef's name. In the former show, the chef would cook a complete meal from whatever he has in his kitchen. And his pantry has everything!If he could not find the ingredients needed, he would take us on a trip to the supermarket and pick up his choices.

Last night I managed to catch him preparing seafood chowder, salad and fresh bread with the common ingredient in all- the herb, fresh dill.

Chowder is a great dish for small children. You can add seafood if they are not allergic to it.

The making of the chowder was simple. He first browned some bacon. As bacon is not halal, I suggest we use beef cuts(daging cincang) instead. After the meat is browned, the fat is poured out. Slices of onion and celery are added and sauteed in the little remaining fat. He then added some wine with milk and cream. We can of course skip the wine and use grape juice or non-alcoholic wine if we want to. (I personally do not like the non-alcoholic imitation wine drinks because of their sweetness).

Cooking was continued with vigorous stirring before some grated potatoes were added to thicken the chowder. Potatoes were used instead of corn or wheat flour.

Seasonings of salt, pepper and dry herbs were next added , followed by frozen cleaned shrimps and cut fish fillets. (We could try using the Dory fish fillet in Malaysia). Freshly cut dill was then added and the dish was stirred before being dished out and served with fresh bread and salad.The latter two recipes are reserved for another day.

The chowder reminded me of the delicious clam chowder we had at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. The waiter was kind enough to point out that the first chowder we picked from the menu was not halal. We thought seafood was okay but forgot the wine element and was ignorant of the bacon ingredient.. We were later serve a halal chowder, according to the waiter.