this is a really creamy thick traditional tasting chowder., similar to a new england clam chowder, but obviously with corn and no clams.

if you wanted to do this as a “seafood” chowder though, you could experiment with adding some marinated king oyster mushrooms. i will be doing this very soon but our store was out of them. this recipe uses cashews for creaminess, so get soaking before you start cooking!

CORN CHOWDER

• oil
• 1/2 large onion or 1 small, diced
• 4 ribs celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• pinch of salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 ears of corn, husked and all silks cleaned off*
• 9 nugget potatoes (5 diced, 4 halved)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp thyme
• a big dollop of chili paste
• lots of black pepper
• 2 c. water
• 4 c. broth
• 2 tsp braggs or soy sauce
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 c. raw cashews, soaked for atleast 3 hours or overnight
• 1 c. unsweetened almond milk

in a large soup pot, heat oil and saute the carrots, celery and onion with a pinch of salt. cook, stirring now and then until softened and onions are translucent. add garlic, thyme, bay leaves and potatoes. meanwhile, remove the corn kernels from the cobs. trim the cobs and keep them. add both to the soup and then the broth and water (it should cover, and your cobs will float near the top). bring to a boil then simmer until the large potato chunks are tender. Remove the big potato pieces and in a blender combine them with the drained cashews and almond milk. blend until smooth. remove bay leaves and cobs from the soup and discard. return the potato cashew mixture to the soup along with lemon juice, chili paste, braggs and LOTS OF BLACK PEPPER. stir to incorporate, taste and adjust seasoning. serve right away!

i quickly panfried some diced smoked tofu to top the soup along with some scallions, but it is delicious without!

*you can use frozen corn if need be, but if fresh is available then go for it. when you cook the cobs in the soup it gives the whole thing a stronger flavour.