Once again, thoughts of the annual Clam Chowder Cook Off at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk comes to mind. A couple of years ago, my husband and I did a photo-shoot of the event, starting in the early morning when the contestants were just setting up their booths. Afterwards, I went home and created my own vegetarian recipes for both a red and a white non-clam chowder, which turned out pretty good!
Today, I decided to make another version of a white non-clam chowder that this time would be vegan besides being vegetarian (no animal products at all, including dairy). I used oat groats again, and onion, celery, and wakame seaweed.
Instead of adding much salt to the chowder, I made a light-colored miso broth in individual serving bowls and added the cooked chowder to it. (This way, leftover chowder can be reheated without compromising the miso's live culture of probiotic lactobacillus bacteria.)
I gave some to my husband to try and we both liked it a lot! And so, without further delay, here is my new recipe:
Santa Cruz Non-Clam Chowder
1 cup cooked oat groats (presoaked in water overnight, then cooked with no salt)
1 tablespoon sesame oil, unrefined
1 large onion (1 cup), diced
6 celery stalks and leaves (2 cups), diced
3 large pieces wakame (1/2 cup), cut up
1 bay leaf, large
3 1/2 cups water, to start (add more as needed)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, unrefined
1-2 teaspoons miso, per serving bowl (naturally fermented, Chickpea or Mellow White miso)
Step 1: Rinse and pre-soak one part oat groats in three parts water overnight. Then bring to a boil and cook in the soaking water on low heat for about an hour. Do not add salt. These pre-cooked oats can be stored several days in the refrigerator or eaten plain! Reserve 1 cup of the cooked oats for this recipe.
Step 2: Rinse and soak 3 pieces of wakame in water for 15 minutes. Then rinse several times more and cut into small pieces. (Separate the leaves from the spine first, then cut the leaves into one-inch pieces, and the spine into more tiny pieces, so they will all cook together more evenly.)
Step 3: In a heavy soup pot, saute the diced onion and celery in sesame oil.
Step 4: Add the oat groats, wakame, bay leaf, water, and sea salt to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for about an hour (checking it often and adding more water as needed, depending on how thick you want the chowder to be).
Step 5: Place 1 to 2 teaspoons of light-colored miso in each serving bowl, add about 1/4 cup of heated water, and stir. Then ladle a couple scoops of chowder on top of the miso broth and serve. Delicious!
And next time, I think I'll get some parsnips to add to the recipe...
Related Blog Articles:
Whole Grain Barley Miso
Boston Non-Clam Chowder
Manhattan Non-Clam Chowder
The Annual Clam Chowder Cook Off (2-25-2011)
Parsnip, The Exotic Root Vegetable
