A couple of polar opposite ways to enjoy sweet corn

Chawanmushi, in the pizza oven, plus some other cool uses.

Corn, charred greens & pickled onions

There are so many of ways to get the most out of corn. The leaves can be used for tamales or to wrap fish or meats on the BBQ. They can also be charred and dried, then ground into a powder that carries a smokey, coffee, chocolate flavour. The spent cobs are great to flavour stocks or custards and icecream bases, think corn icecream with chocolate cookies. The silky strands (corn hair) are often uses in tea. They have a mild sweet taste and are used for their detoxifying properties (yes please!)

Charring corn husks to make a flavoursome powder

When buying corn, go for the fresh cobs still wrapped in their husks, if the outer leaves are still soft and green it’s a good indication that they’re nice and fresh and you’re laughing. I love using corn raw kernels in salads for a fresh sweet crunch.  After you have cut away the kernels from the cob, be sure to run the back of your knife down the cob to scrape away all the remaining sweet juicy remnants into the salad.

Grilled with a spiced ranch dressing

Below is a recipe is Chawanmushi (also a friend of corn) This savoury custard, or has a delicate texture and subtle flavour. We had this on the very first @threeblueducks menu, with corn and cuttlefish.

It’s traditionally eaten hot in winter and chilled in summer. Works well with mushrooms, asparagus or crab. Use a blowtorch to remove any unwanted bubbles on-top of the custard before cooking.

The one below that is simply grilled with a lime, miso butter. I like to blast it though a pizza oven to get plenty of colour, then season with loads of lime and herbs.

Chawanmushi, corn, herbs and chili

Chawanmushi

Recipe

4 eggs

300ml water

25 ml dashi

75ml cream

Method

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk gently to combine.

Strain the custard into bowls or small teacups, and then cover.

Put a bamboo steamer over boiling water, carefully place the moulds in the steamer, then turn to simmer, so that it is on a very low heat. Steam for around 15-20 minutes until the custard is set (it will still be a bit wobbly though).  I used the a Thermomix 20min steam at 80deg.

Garnish

3 tbsp steamed corn kernels

Coriander

Green shallot

Squeeze of lime

Crispy chili oil (In my other post)

Crack, whisk, season, mix, strain

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Grilled Corn, lime & miso butter

Prep time 20mins/cook time 20mins/easy

Recipe

3 heads sweet corn

50g Grated Parmesan cheese

1 Sliced red chili

4 tbsp Chopped Coriander

Lime miso butter

1 tsp soy

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp miso

Half a green chili

Lime zest

1 green shallot

1 clove garlic

Method for butter

Season soft butter with lime zest, grated garlic, finely chopped green shallot(the green part), soy, miso and chilli, then set aside.

Lime dressing

1 tsp soy

Half a green chili(diced)

1 lime diced

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Half a green shallot

3 tbsp olive oil

Method for lime dressing

Dice half of the lime and pop into a bowl. Squeeze the juice from the other half over the top.

Mix in chili, diced green shallot(the white part) soy, and olive oil check its got enough punch. Add a little more lime if need be.

S&P

Method for corn

First up blacken the corn, with the leaves on, this will steam the corn onside a lovely way to cook it.

I popped it in a pizza oven but you can pop it on a BBQ or on a char grill if you like.

Once charred all over, leave for a few minutes to steam then remove the outer leaves, return to the pan and baste with lime miso butter.

Next, return to the heat source until nutty brown.

Once nutty brown, pop on a plate and season with lime, slice chili shallot dressing and grated cheese.