Sweet Corn Recipes

When we were young, the sibling and me were totally predictable. At any Chinese restaurant, the first thing we would order was Sweet Corn Soup. My parents tried very hard to get us to taste other items "Arent you bored yet?" Nope, we wanted our bowls of soup - 1 by 2. Once I moved to the US and those cravings hit me .... you can see where this is going right? It snowed last night and I figured it was the perfect time to make a delicious bowl of hot, comforting, delicious Sweet Corn Chicken Soup. The recipe below is so quick and easy and the taste beats the Knorr soup packets hollow!

The second recipe is for a sweet corn dip, served canape style. You know, those finicky little appetizer things where rows of fried bread are laid out on a tray, topped with the dip and then decorated with some herbs. Totally delicious, too much work! The dip has always been a huge hit at parties so I take the easy way out and serve it with crackers or salted biscuits and let my guests assemble their own portions.

For both the recipes I use cans of cream-style corn (or creamed corn) available in the grocery stores. You see now why I invariably stock this item in my pantry. Love the stuff!! Try these recipes and you'll love it too ....

Sweet Corn (Chicken) Soup

1 can cream-style corn
garlic, finely chopped
ginger, finely chopped
2 spring onions, chopped, separate the white and green parts
french beans, thinly sliced
carrots, grated
celery, thinly sliced (optional)
chicken, boiled and shredded (optional)
1 can chicken stock/ vegetable stock/ water + couple of cups of water
1 tbsp. corn starch (optional)
2 green chillies, chopped fine
soy sauce
vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Add the chopped green chillies to a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pot. Immediately add the ginger and garlic. Fry, dont let them burn.

Add the whites of the spring onions and fry till they become soft. Add the rest of the veggies and let them cook till semi-soft.

Add the cream-style corn, stir well. Then add chicken, stock+water, salt, pepper, bring to a boil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes. The vegetables should finish cooking now. If you want, you can thicken the consistency of the soup by adding in the corn flour mixed with water.

Remove from heat and stir in the greens of the spring onions.

Serve with soy sauce and the chillies in vinegar for garnishing.

Sweet Corn Dip

1 can cream-style corn
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 spring onion, chopped, separate the white and green parts
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Heat some oil in a pan. Add the garlic and chillies and fry for some time. The cream-style corn is sweet so add more green chillies if your taste buds can handle them.

Add the whites of the spring onions. After they become soft, stir in the can of corn. Test the dip for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat, stir in the greens of the spring onions.

Serving suggestions: Cut a slice of bread into 4 (or 6) pieces, deep fry. Arrange the fried bread on a plate. Top with the dip, then top with either a mix of onion+tomato+chopped coriander leaves or just finely chopped coriander leaves.

Alternatively, serve alongside your favorite crackers/ biscuits.