You can use any salmonid fish for this recipe... actually, you can use any fish -- except for something like sardines, mackerel or bluefish. Serve with crusty sourdough bread and a hoppy beer or crisp white wine. Oh, and this chowder is actually better the next day; just heat it up very slowly on the stovetop. Don't let it boil.
3to 4 pounds salmon heads, fins and bones, gills removed
Salt
1onion,chopped
2carrots,chopped
2celery stalks,chopped
1cupwhite wine
1handful of dried mushrooms,preferably matsutake
2bay leaves
CHOWDER
1/4poundthick bacon
1cupchopped yellow or white onion
2celery stalks,chopped
1 1/2poundspotatoes,peeled and diced
5 tp 6 cupsfish broth,or 4 cups chicken broth plus 1 to 2 cups water
1 to 2poundsskinless, boneless salmon meat,cut into chunks
1cupcorn,fresh or thawed
2/3cupheavy cream
Black pepper to taste
2tablespoonschopped fresh dill or chives,for garnish
Instructions
To make the broth, put all the broth ingredients into the pot and cover with water. Bring to a bare simmer, or even just let it steep like a tea, for 30 to 45 minutes. Strain the broth. Pick any stray salmon meat you want off the bones and reserve. Discard the rest of the solids and reserve the broth.
Wipe out the pot, add the bacon, and turn the heat to medium, and cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon. Eat 1 piece. Chop the rest and reserve.
Sauté the onion and celery in the bacon fat, stirring often, until they are soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and the salmon broth and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
When the potatoes are tender, add the corn and the chunks of salmon. Cook gently until the salmon is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped bacon, dill, heavy cream and black pepper.
Video
Notes
Note that any sort of salmon or trout will work here.
Keys to Success
Don't get all low fat on me and sub in milk for the cream. The chowder can break and curdle. Ew.
If you want, skip the bacon and use olive oil. I won't mind.
Any dried mushrooms will do for the broth, not just matsutake.
In a perfect world, you would use meat from the head and collars for this chowder, because they are fattier and nicer and won't dry out. Regular fillet meat is fine though.