Need a fix for floury chowder

May 4, 2010 2:35 AM

I've just made a big pot of chowder, but it tastes really floury - I presume I must have undercooked the roux. Can anyone suggest a way to rescue it? The best that googling can do is suggest I add something to mask the taste - any suggestions for what might work to do that?
posted by une_heure_pleine to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Best answer: Are there potatoes in your chowder? If so, that floury taste is more likely from the potato starch than it is from the flour or cornstarch you used in the roux. Try adding some canned vegetable broth and see if that helps.
posted by amyms at 2:45 AM on May 4, 2010

Best answer: If flour is really your problem, just cook it for a bit longer. If there's ingredients in there that won't stand the extra cooking, maybe you could scoop them out first and put them back in afterwards.
posted by emilyw at 2:55 AM on May 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What kind of chowder is this? Tarragon is a strong flavor that works well with clam chowder, but if this is corn chowder that might be a misstep.

Maybe some garlic? Or anything with a smoky, complex taste. A little bacon, or some kind of porky salty thing might work. White wine is probably a safe bet, too.
posted by Mizu at 3:32 AM on May 4, 2010

Best answer: If it's an unpleasant texture you're getting then I think you should cook it longer like emilyw says. But if it's a flavor (maybe the flour was old) then try adding curry powder to it. Just throw some in a teaspoon at a time until you get the right flavor. If you don't have that then maybe smoked paprika, bacon or salt pork, lemon grass, chipotle, parsley, or Worcester.
posted by JackarypQQ at 3:34 AM on May 4, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks folks. Have added some vegetable stock, some Worcester sauce and some white wine. With that, and forty minutes more on the stove, things are looking up. Still not the finest soup I've tasted, but no longer an embarrassment.

(All best answers, as I've taken something from each and therefore have no way of knowing which one was the charm).
posted by une_heure_pleine at 3:52 AM on May 4, 2010