Recipe: Crab & Corn Chowder

Dungeness crab is one of the most popular seafoods in the Pacific Northwest - and with good reason! Its tender, flavorful and slightly sweet meat is great in many dishes, including this creamy and delicious corn chowder. This makes a great side dish, or main dish when served with crusty bread and a green salad with a glass of crisp white wine!

Crab & Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 quart chicken broth
1 quart fresh corn kernels (substitute frozen if you can't get fresh)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 lb. cleaned lump crab meat

Directions:

• Add 2 cups chicken broth and corn to food processor; pulse until the mixture is a coarse puree; set aside.
• Put a large soup pot over low heat, add the butter. Once butter has melted, add the onion, stir and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until onion is softened slightly.
• Pour the corn puree from the food processor into the pot, then add the wine, remaining 2 cups broth, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the corn is tender. 
• Add milk and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through.
• Now add the chives and crab meat, stir, and cover pot. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes or until crab is warmed. 
• Serve warm with crusty bread.

Explore the Variety Of Healthy Pacific Northwest Seafood

The locals of the Pacific Northwest region rely heavily on nature's abundance for their meals. With the ocean at their door, this region enjoys a generous supply of seafood. A temperate, stable environment ensures the people of the region will be provided with a wide variety of fresh seafood. Year after year, these sustainable resources are harvested and enjoyed throughout the Pacific Northwest region.

(Photo credit: Nemo's great uncle)

There are many types of seafood indigenous to the areas of Washington and Oregon, as well as parts north including Alaska. The fresh, cold water seafood most plentiful in these areas are dungeness crab, Alaskan king crab, halibut, and Pacific salmon. Mussels, oysters, clams, and shrimp are also found on the dinner table around this region.

Of course, each seafood has its own season. The best time to buy any seafood depends on where you are located. For instance, dungeness crab is at its peak in December and January if you are in Washington or Oregon, but you'll want to wait until June to buy if you're in Alaska or British Columbia. Want some coho salmon? Mark your calendar for June to October. Too hungry for salmon to wait? Sockeye salmon is at its peak in May. But, you don't really have to remember all this. Just make friends with your local fishmonger. Ask him or her what's fresh and what's best and shop accordingly.  

The people of the Pacific Northwest love their seafood because it's plentiful and it tastes great. What more could you ask for, right? How about some fantastic health benefits, too.

Fish contains 'omega 3 fatty acids,' which is the super nutrient for heart health, lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol. Certain types of fish, such as salmon, herring, and albacore tuna, contain more of the omega 3 than other fish. Mussels, scallops, and shrimp also provide a moderate amount of omega 3s, which is more than we can say for a lot of food. You may be surprised that a good can of Pacific sardines is a healthier choice than many other canned or prepared foods.

Once you choose your seafood, you'll want to know how to prepare it. If you want to cook like a local, you'll quickly learn the locals of this region live by this motto; “the simpler, the better.” They take their seafood seriously, and are more interested in the quality and freshness of the seafood than in what other ingredients you're going to add to it. Get it fresh and keep it simple and you will be cooking like a local.
The people in the Pacific Northwest enjoy the resources nature provides. They like uncomplicated dishes and realize that a meal doesn't have to be fancy in order to be good. The focus is on freshness. Anything you do to the seafood after that is just for fun.  In other words... enjoy!

A Pacific Northwest Shellfish Primer

When traveling the Pacific Northwest region, it's very likely you will indulge in a few varieties of shellfish. It wouldn't be a trip to the area without at least one crab, oyster, shrimp, or clam meal. Along with salmon, shellfish is probably one of the best reasons to visit this region.

Even though you may enjoy shellfish in other areas of the country, or world, there are always going to be differences worth noting. Let's take a quick tour of the shellfish of the Pacific Northwest to learn a little about these delicious, and natural, resources.

Dungeness Crab

Enjoying Dungeness Crabs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ask anyone who frequents this region and they will have one piece of advice for you; "First, get yourself some Dungeness crab. Anything else can wait." If you don't sit down to a meal of Dungeness crab, you have not officially been to the Pacific Northwest. This large, sweet, meaty crab is perfect for a leisurely gathering around a big table. Dungeness crab goes through a series of "molts" on its way to adulthood. You'll find plentiful Dungeness crab offshore in coastal waters and surrounding estuaries. In these protected waters, the temperatures are often more mild. This warmer water, teamed with abundant food supplies, can grow some very fine, large Dungeness crab. The Dungeness crab plays several roles in the life-cycle of the waterways up and down the Pacific coast, both as prey and predator. For commercial and recreational use both, the Dungeness crab forms a vibrant part of the area's economic fabric; and a delicious one!

Pacific Oyster

This large, exotic oyster was introduced to the west coast of America from Japan. Because it needs warmer waters to spawn and live, this species depends on stable, protected estuaries to survive. Adult oysters prefer firm, rocky bottoms. They will attach themselves to debris or even other oyster shells. The shells of the Pacific oyster are very rough with large ridges, and can grow to be about 10 inches long. You can still find wild oyster beds in Washington State, but most Pacific oysters you eat in restaurants or 'oyster bars' will be from oyster farms.

Littleneck clams. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pacific Littleneck Clam

Because the Littleneck clam is also called "steamer and butter clam," you might suspect this is one clam that is good eating; and you'd be right. This clam is very popular, both as a commercial product and for recreation, probably because it is so tasty and easy to harvest. Coastal towns from California to Alaska have relied on this clam at times for economical survival. Pacific Littleneck clams are sold in the shell, and can be found canned or frozen, as well. Juvenile clams can move around using its foot, and prefer deeper waters. Adults, however, travel to shallower waters, where they remain sedentary, almost waiting for us to gather them up to enjoy.

Bay Shrimp

Although Bay shrimp have enjoyed the spotlight on dinner tables for hundreds of years, now this shrimp is cultivated more commonly to use as bait. However, on the recreational front, Bay shrimp is often harvested for eating. They have a thin shell and a solid body, offering plenty of meat and an easy peel. The Bay shrimp is very dominant all along the Pacific coastline, and forms an important part of the food chain, feeding many species of sporting fish. The Bay shrimp flourishes, in part, because of its adaptability. You'll find this shrimp in muddy bays, or sandy bottomed estuaries, or even in deeper off-shore waters.

Part of traveling to other regions is learning about the foods indigenous to the area. If you ate nothing else but these four shellfish species, you would have a proper introduction to the flavors that make the Pacific Northwest special.