Food Feud: Vegan MoFo in NYC, Day 5: Manhattan Glam Chowder

As I mentioned the other day, I caught a nasty cold, probably
the worst I've had since I became vegan about 6 years ago, though I feel a lot better today. I've been
trying to eat my greens, drink lots of tea (okay, and whiskey), and mind
my vitamins. I also immediately thought: soup!
After picking up a couple items at Mr. Kiwi the other day, I made a Manhattan winter standard: Manhattan "Glam" Chowder from Isa Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction.
I'm starting to think that part of the reason I like Isa's recipes so much is because they're always accompanied by anecdotes about her NYC childhood that I like to compare to mine (hers are usually a lot cooler though.) That, and the recipes are usually delicious.
I believe I've only had Manhattan clam chowder once, which differs from its New England counterpart in being tomato- rather than cream-based, so I can't say exactly how the vegan version compares with the original. Isa modifies the soup using shiitake mushrooms as a stand-in for the clams and adds crumbled nori sheets for a seafood-y taste. I added a dash of tamari to up the umami flavor and it really hit the spot. I thought the chowder was a little heavy on the potatoes, but maybe I just cut them too large. When I'm hungry and sick, I can get too lazy to chop properly.
I definitely recommend the soup. It's probably even better when you add the black pepper and thyme the recipe calls for - neither of which I could find, which got me humming Le Tigre's "I'm outta thyme, I'm outta fucking thyme." I think maybe Isa would approve of the tune as well as the soup.

Source: http://feudfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/vegan-mofo-in-nyc-day-5-manhattan-glam.html

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