This is a recipe I winged not to long ago. I then made it in larger volume adding lightly grilled salmon for a teachers appreciation luncheon..There wasn't a drop left.

Quick Potato Corn Chowder

2 medium size russets, peeled and cubed
2 handfuls of chopped carrots
1 large garlic clove sliced
1 c chicken broth
enough water to cover the veggies
little s&p
Simmer until potatoes and carrots can be smashed some.
Smash veggies, do not drain, leaving some chunks.
Toss in two handfuls of corn.
1 c half n half
taste, add more s&p simmer a bit longer to cook corn and finish off the potatoes and carrots.

Start with this and go with it.

or I have this recipe that I use too from my recipe pages...

Here is a link that might be useful: Healthy Potato Soup

I should work out a recipe for this, but since most of my cooking is improvised, I don't have a recipe at hand. Here are a few ideas.

Butter, corn and crab, lobster or clams are highly compatible flavors. Any or all of them can, along with potatoes, onions, butter and milk, make a great chowder. Don't overlook fish chowder.

Use any cooking liquids, which have captured the seafood flavors, as part of the chowder. Cook empty shells with water to extract their goodness. Any such fish stock or court bullion makes a tasty, nutritious base for chowder.

Evaporated milk (not condensed) is a very good ingredient in chowder.

Thicken, but not too much, with a flour/butter roux.

A sprinkle of nutmeg never hurts a milk based recipe.

Jim

jimster....appears you cook kinda like I do. I like your ideas about preserving flavors.

Actually started my search with Betty Crocker. As soon as I saw her red-book chowder recipes called for canned potatoes and canned corn I closed the cover and turned on the computer.

Still focused on crab-corn....trying to recapture a memory.

Asolo, This one has been a winner for us. You could easily sub crab for the shrimp.

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 medium onion , finely chopped
2 cloves garlic , minced
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1-3/4 c chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 medium potato , peeled and finely chopped (1 cup)
1/4 cup sweet red peppers, finely chopped
1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp parsley flakes

Directions
In a 2 qt saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in hot cooking oil till onion is tender, add half of the corn. Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat. Stir in whipping cream, salt, and white pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, in a small covered saucepan cook remaining corn and potato in boiling, salted water for two minutes. Add chopped sweet pepper. Cover and cook about 1 minute or until potato is tender. Drain.

Remove from heat; cool slightly. Pour the cooled mixture into a blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Return to sauce pan. Stir the drained vegetables into the soup. Add the shrimp, Old Bay and parsley, heat through.

Linda

Here's the recipe I use.

Crab and Corn Chowder

4 slices precooked bacon or raw bacon cooked limp
2 tsp. butter
1 medium onion minced
3 cups chicken stock
1 medium potato peeled and diced ¼"
1 cup 1% milk or plain Rice Dream
16 oz. frozen shoe peg corn
8 oz. of fresh lump blue crabmeat

Over medium heat, sauté bacon in saucepan until very crisp. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towel, pat dry and crumble. Add butter to pan and melt, add onions to pan, sauté until onions just begin to start to brown. Add potatoes to pan and sauté 2 minutes. Add corn, chicken stock and milk, cover pan and heat until just beginning to simmer; reduce heat and allow to cook for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add crabmeat, heat through. Garnish with crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.

NOTES: I prefer it made with Rice Dream or half milk, half Rice Dream. I like the flavor. Also I use Shoe Peg corn so the corn flavor compliments rather than over powers the crab. Using pre-cooked bacon cuts down on the amount of bacon fat in the final product but still imparts a nice hint of bacon flavor. You could get the same result using raw bacon by draining off most of the bacon fat prior to cooking the onions.

The Vietnamese crab corn chowder recipes all seem fairly similar so if you want to duplicate what you had I would try one of those recipes first and tailor it to your taste.
Here is one copied and pasted so other cooks can see the difference. I know you have seen these type recipes in your research. Real creamed corn (not canned) and fresh cut kernels along with good crab is what would transcend a basic recipe like this.

Vietnamese Corn Chowder with Crab (Chao Bap Voi Cua) Ingredients
4 c Chicken stock 1 tb Corn starch
2 c Creamed corn 2 Eggs
1 c Corn kernels 1/4 c Green onion; thinly sliced
1 c Crab; flaked
Instructions for Vietnamese Corn Chowder with Crab (Chao Bap Voi Cua)
1. Break eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork. 2. Bring stock to a boil, add creamed corn, corn kernels and crab, return to boil. Mix corn starch with a bit of cold water and add gradually to soup to thicken. Dribble eggs into soup in thin stream while stirring constantly to produce egg threads. 3. Serve garnished with green onion. Formatted & Busted by RecipeLu Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 230 by RecipeLu on Nov 09, 1997

bumblebeez, are you saying that Vietnamese chowder is sort of a cross between basic American chowder and egg drop soup? I'd love to see that! I doubt I could make the threads well enough to get it right, but sounds cool (my favorite brunch is eggs benedict on crab cakes, so I know this is a good combo). Very interesting.

I agree it sounds interesting. I'll bet it has a wonderful visual appeal as well. Also, I love Eggs Benedict w/crab!

bumblebeez.....YOUR A TREASURE!!! Thanks for responding!

That's it! In the long time passed, I'd completely forgotton about the "egg threads" in that wonderful bowl of chowder. You nailed it!!!!

I think I'm going to take a number of ideas from here along with the "egg threads" and see what I can make come out.

Moosemac....like yours, too, but ....how do you cook 1/4" diced potatoes for 45 minutes until "fork tender"? I think they would be mush by that time. Like the shoe-peg corn idea.

I knew the GW crew would come through. Thanks for all responses.

Egg drop soup....just for you, asolo, I bumped up gardengirl's thread with her take on it or click here. Very edjucamational.

Lets see how man enough you are (or chef enough?) to try the stock with.....chicken feet. Heck its easier than putting a pronoun at the beginning of your sentences, promise!

Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken feet challenge

This is great info, jessyf. I've never done "egg threads" and gardengrl's step-by-step with pix is great confidence builder. I'm now remembering ginger, also. Thanks for link.

Will you forgive me if I don't opt for chicken-feet version?

I'm glad I could help. If you don't have one, consider getting one of these corn creamers. Nothing else does the job like these. Specialty kitchen stores usually have them. I know they carry them at Mast general stores for around 9 dollars. They are factory set ready to cream corn, btw. They are messy and I use mine over a dishpan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Corn Creamer

LOL glad to be of help.

Will you forgive me if I don't opt for chicken-feet version?

Only if you forgive me for posting this off color joke on the Laundry Forum years ago; you took me to task for it (grin).

bumblebeez

I can't type I am laughing so hard at that link

There is something wrong with a picture of a man holding a drill attached to a tube called 'EZ Creamer' over a bucket or plastic bag on the end

Hmmmm

Our corn will be ready soon

And DH IS a gadget hound

Think I'll link him this

Share the joy

Jessica, I am very happy to know that, since it was the Laundry Forum your joke wasn't "Dirty", it was only "off color". Now remember, you should sort those jokes according to color, LOL.

OK, OK, so I'm tired. Somehow it makes everything funnier...

Annie

I was over at my daughter's yesterday, and she said her husband grilled the corn on the barbeque before adding it to chicken corn chowder. Apparently it added a lot of flavour.

Apparently? Apparently? Apparently?

Is there any doubt? Next time I make a corn chowder, I MUST grill the corn.

Jim

Grilling corn gives it a different flavor.

I grilled corn, cut off the cob and froze yesterday but would have never thought about putting it in chowder. I do it for corn and black bean salad.

Lulu, thanks for the tip!

Another excellent idea. Thanks, lulu.

When I first pulled up the corn creamer page I thought the same thing, jessy. And my mind isn't as fertile as yours!

asolo,
LOL well you are correct after 45 minutes those small potato pieces would probably be mush. This is the major problem with the way I cook. When I create a recipe I tend to grab what I have on hand and make whatever inspires me. I measure using my hands and fingers and cook by the seat of my pants. When I make a recipe again I go by when things are done hence the "about 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender." The only time I actually follow a recipe, measure and time things is when I bake. (It took me years to figure why I was such a horrible baker!) Overall I'm a very, undisciplined cook.

I have made this chowder numerous times and it always turns out wonderful. Experiment to your heartÂs content, thatÂs what makes cooking FUN!!

This is sounding really good.

What exactly is creamed corn? Without buying a specialty tool, can I get a similar result somehow else? Box grater? Scrape/smoosh with the back of a knife? Food processor?

A box grater gives you the closet results apart from the creamer shown above. Creamed corn is just corn that has had the kernels sliced open and than removed from the cob. The corn makes a lot of milk/juice this way and is what makes it creamy. The specialty creamer though, removes all the insides of the kernel and leaves the hull still attached to the cob. The box grater will shred the hull.

Real creamed corn is not at all like canned cream corn which usually has sugar and cornstarch added and is gross.

All my relatives gobble up homemade creamed corn it is so good.

Vietnamese crab corn chowder does not have potatoes in it. To me, it taste like thick egg drop soup with really good crab and creamed corn in it.

If you ever have tried Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus soup, it is similar to it but with corn. Don't forget to use fish sauce in the stock. Hope that helps.

Good news / bad news

Bad news is I botched the egg threads and the fresh crab was a waste. Couldn't resist using bacon as I usually do with chowder and the subtle taste of the expensive crab was simply overwhelmed. (duh! Why am I so habit-bound?)

Good news is that using ginger, garlic, pre-grilled corn, and red-skinned potatoes (all your ideas) and cooking everything just right (for a change!) resulted in the best batch I've ever made anyway. Company went nuts wondering how I did that. Not a drop left!

Thanks all for these good ideas. I'll keep working. Printed all this out for reference next time. My head is swimming with ideas.

Thanks for posting your results, keep good notes for next time, looking forward to your final recipe.

asolo - It sounds like your soup was much better than mine. I pretty much used bumblebeez's recipe to a T, except one big mistake: Although I halved the recipe I did not want expensive leftover crab rotting in my fridge so I dumped the whole 6oz container into it. Way overpowering.

Not too much luck with my fresh spring rolls either. Actually I did not mind them too much, but seeing them sitting on my wife's plate uneaten (next to a barely touched bowl of soup) kind of ruined my enthusiasm for the whole meal.

By the way, to cream the corn I sliced down each row of kernels and then scraped the corn with the back of my chef's knife. Four ears got me a cups worth in minutes and based on what was left behind on the cobs I think it was closer to the real thing than using a grater.