Baby….. It’s Baby Corn!

There is no doubt that my greatest discovery in the recent trip to farmers market is those lovely baby corns. Firstly, it was my first time ever buying baby corns with husk and silk still attached. My photo shows you just that… Lying inside the thick layers of husk and silk is the tiny yellow baby (corn), something so fragile and delicate. For me, these baby corns are truly precious treasures…

But what amazes me the most is the fantastic flavour of these baby corns. Forget the pre-packed ones with very light and bland tastes; the farmers market products are deliciously sweet and juicy. It is a real boost of flavours! With such excellent products, you can simply eat them raw (I did!) or throw into some simple salad. However, inspired by Alanna’s Soup Glorious Soup event, I decided to use corns, baby and normal, to cook up a simple Chinese-style Corn Soup.

This soup is so popular that you can always find it in any Chinese restaurants. Here, to celebrate the glorious baby corns, I roasted them lightly with some sesame oil to bring out the sweetness. When the soup was done, these baby corns were “floated” into the serving bowl – kinda like croutons. Man, they were so sweet and brittle, providing a beautiful bite in every spoonful of soup. Ohhhh, this is surely my type of comfort food!

I’d like to submit this post to Alanna soup event. The on-going list of soups submitted by bloggers is amazing and truly glorious! I also want to give thanks to a fellow blogger, Haalo from Cook (almost) anything at least once. Her informative posts about the farmers market in Melbourne and their products are the motivations for me to find and try more delicious local fruits and vegies.

Chinese-style sweet corn soup with baby corn “croutons”

Ingredients (for 4-6 serves as first course)

5 cups of vegetable/chicken stock

3 large sweet corns, husk and silk removed

4-5 baby corns, husk and silk removed

Sesame oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

Salt and pepper, to taste

3 tbps cornflour mixed with a little cold water

Chopped spring onions (scallions) to garnish

Method:

1. Remove the sweet corns from the cob with a sharp knife.
2. Preheat oven to 180C, put baby corns in a baking tray. Drizzle with sesame oil and roast in the oven for 10-15 mins or until golden brown. Chop into bite size, keep warm.
3. Bring the stocks to the boil, add the corn cobs & simmer for 10 mins.
4. Discard the cobs. Add in sweet corns, simmer for 5-10 mins. Check seasoning. Thicken with cornflour paste, stirring until it comes to a gentle boil.
5. Turn off the heat and gently stir in eggs.
6. To serve, sprinkle some spring onions. Add in the roasted baby corns and serve immediately.

Tag: recipes food blog food and drink soup corn

Baby….. It’s Baby Corn!