As Tariq, aka Corn Kid, says, "I couldn't imagine a more beautiful thing". While we aren't ones to dive too deep into a social media trends here at Foodism, we have, like most of you, been a little stuck on the corn video and subsequent song that have been doing the rounds. It's a big lump with knobs! It has the juice! It's corn! Tariq's love for the vegetable is infectious. The song is catchy. It'll no doubt remain at the front of our minds for another 2-3 working days until it's usurped by some other video and catchy song in the never-ending cycle that is content.
But, while it has us all salivating over the sweet, juicy, starchy vegetable that is corn, we thought, why not make hay while the sun shines? If, by "hay", you mean corn, and by "the sun shines", you mean the drizzly, rapidly cooling end of warmer weather. The climate might have given up on summer, but that doesn't mean your kitchen has to, and it just so happens to be the perfect time of year to cook up those yellow, radiant cobs.
Tariq's preferred method of consumption is nibbling away at a freshly buttered, lightly cooked corn cob. We're all for that simple but effective approach, but thought this was a good opportunity to sing about the vegetable's versatility. So, we roped in a couple of our favourite chefs (Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones from Wild by Tart, Will Murray and Jack Croft from Fallow and Will Bowlby from Kricket, to be specific) to whip up some lovely, creative ways to get your corn fix. They're best cooked with the corn song on repeat in the background.
Fallow's Fried Corn Ribs
This umami-packed recipe takes the classic corn on the cob to a whole new level
Serves 4
Preparation time 15
Cooking time 20
Ingredients
For the corn
4 whole corn
Sunflower, vegetable or rapeseed oil for frying
Small handful of Coriander, chopped
1 Lime
15 ml good quality olive oil, to drizzle
For the seasoning
52g (1 packet) salted kombu - you can find online easily
25g Old bay seasoning
8g Smoked paprika
6g Smoked chilli flakes
25g Maldon salt
Method
For the kombu seasoning
Put your oven onto its lowest possible setting. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and place the salted kombu on top in an even layer. Place into an oven and leave to dehydrate until completely dry.
Once dry, let it cool and then place into a blender with the other ingredients and blitz until fine, set aside to use later. This seasoning can be used for a huge array of different things and will make a welcome addition to your store cupboard.
For the corn
Take your whole corn and remove the skin and husks.
Cut the cobs in half cross ways, and then in quarter lengthways, so that from one cob you get 8 pieces.
Heat a deep pan of oil to around 175 degrees celsius.
Add the corn and fry for 6-7 minutes until they curl back and look like ribs, with the outer kernels starting to colour.
Remove from the pan and drain well on kitchen paper.
Season generously with your seasoning. NB: for a simpler seasoning you can just use the old bay and it will still be delicious.
Finish with chopped coriander, a little drizzle of good quality olive oil, and a generous squeeze of fresh lime. Devour immediately!
Kricket's grilled corn chaat and corn custard with Berkswell and crispy corn
Not satisfied with your corn just one way? Why not utilise the vegetable in three different ways with this cracking recipe from Kricket
Serves 6
Preparation time 20
Cooking time 30
Ingredients
For the corn chaat
Corn on the cob
375g(220g without husk)
50g Red onion, finely chopped
80g raw mango, finely chopped
6g fresh coriander, finely chopped
15g lime juice
7g red chilli, finely chopped
9g chaat masala
For the corn custard
940g tinned corn, drained
500g double cream
170g whole milk
6g garam masala
6g chilli powder
5g salt
20g Berkswell cheese
1 packet crispy corn
Method
For the custard
Bring all the ingredients to the boil.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly.
Blend until very smooth, pass through a sieve and chill.
For the chaat
Dry fry the corn on the cob until blackened in parts.
Remove from the pan, allow to cool, and then strip the corn into a bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
To serve
Spoon the custard into bowls.
Add the chaat on top of half of the custard.
Finely grate the Berkswell cheese on top and garnish with the crispy corn kernels.
Wild by Tart's sweetcorn and ricotta fritters
Deceptively simple to make, these fritters epitomise fresh, veg-centric eating
Makes 12
Preparation time 15
Cooking time 20
Ingredients
For the fritters
150g ricotta
1 large garlic clove, grated
Zest of 1 lime (keep the lime for squeezing over after)
1 green chilli, chopped
250g cooked sweetcorn
3 spring onions, chopped
Small bunch coriander, chopped (you can also use the stalks)
1 egg beaten
75g self raising flour
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying
For the lime yoghurt
100g natural yoghurt
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Method
Place all the fritter ingredients into a bowl and combine. Leave to rest for 5–10 minutes. Mix together the yoghurt and the zest and juice of one lime and leave to one side.
Pour your oil into a frying pan, choose a deeper one if you can and poor in oil till at least an inch deep and heat to a medium–high heat. Once hot spoon a dessert spoon size of mixture into the pan and repeat and leave to sizzle for about 1 minute then turn and cook for another 30 seconds or so, till nicely golden. Remove and place on kitchen paper and repeat for the rest of the mixture.
Drizzle the lime yoghurt onto a plate and place over the fritters, squeeze over lime juice and scatter with coriander. Serve.
