Fishy

I was feeling all loving and snugly yesterday so I decided to make Nate one of his favorite soups, New England Clam Chowder. Except I found a fish chowder recipe instead... thought it would be cheaper.

As I went down the ingredient list, I saw that the recipe called for clam juice. Hmmmm, I thought, can I find clam juice in a German grocery store? In the Asian section of said store I looked and looked, but the only "fishy" thing I could find was Thai Fish Juice. Clam Juice. Fish Juice. Could they really be that different?

The recipe called for two cups of clam juice, and the bottle of fish juice looked to be about 1.5 cups. I figured it was close enough and powered ahead with the recipe. Potatoes chopped up, check. Fish chopped up, check. Seasoning, check. Cream, check. Cooked until just simmering, check.

I presented the simmery soup to my hubby and watched him take a bite. He smiled sweetly, suspiciously, so I took a bite.

OH GAG!!!!!!

It tasted like Lot's wife had gone all pillary right in my soup bowl. And oh, the overpowering taste of fish. ARGH!!!!!!

We both tried to hack down a bowl, but I wasn't successful.

I put the soup away and tried not to think of the time and money I had spent making it.

But today I got an idea. I ran the soup through a strainer, and then washed the remaining ingredients with water. After all the juices had gone down the drain I plopped the chowder back into a pot and added milk and cream. Heated. Heated. Tentative bite.

Hmmm... Not bad. Still a bit fishy, but edible.

Moral of the story. Okay, I'm not sure if there is a moral. Just don't buy fish juice. Please.