I’m always guaranteed two things while eating dinner at my in-law’s. 1) I’ll be stuffed with food, but won’t be able to resist one more bite and 2) I’ll get to hear some awesome anecdotes about my mother and father in-law’s lives back in Vietnam. One of my favourites is about my mother-in-law’s green onion corn stand.
Nothing says summer more to me than corn. The first time I went corn picking I was 10. My family drove out to a u-pick farm in late August on a muggy, hot afternoon. Driving up, the rows and rows of corn seemed endless. The cornstalks were well above my head and even though it would have been so easy to get lost, I wasn’t worried. It was cooler in the rows of corn.
I know you’re probably wondering, when is she going to get back to the Momofuku stuff? Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Chang and his crazy recipes, in fact, I just received my sample size of Activa meat glue in the mail. Meat glue equals Brick Chicken and whatever other weird and wondrous meat monstrosities I can come up with for Meat Glue Week.
In the mean time, I’m still recuperating from my lingering cough with my seemingly endless chicken soups. Miso chicken ramen is one of my favourites and one that you can definitely make with pre-home-made or store-bought chicken stock.
Shepherd’s pie was my most favourite thing ever to eat when I was a kid. I know I say a lot of things are my favourite ever, but Shepherd’s pie really was. I first tasted shepherd’s pie at the Heritage Festival in Edmonton, where I grew up. The Heritage Festival was an outdoor showcase of multiculturalism with performances, crafts and most importantly, food.
roasted sweet frozen corn
Corn, it’s one the most delicious vegetables! But wait, corn’s not a vegetable? I learned that the hard way after playing twenty questions with Mike while on a road trip. I think I knew it was a grain, but for some reason, for the purpose of twenty questions it was more of a vegetable. It was the first time I “won,” at twenty questions, but Mike claims that it doesn’t count because I “lied.”
green onions, corn, ramen broth, roasted onions, bacon
Lying aside, corn really is delicious. The crunch, the sweet milkiness, and the way the kernels burst into juicy little flavour bombs on your tongue can’t be beat. Nothing is better than fresh corn steamed with butter. Oh, except fresh corn roasted on the cob and topped with green onion oil. Oh, and maybe Chang’s roasted sweet summer corn with miso butter, bacon & roasted onions.
miso butter, green onions, ramen broth, corn, roasted onions, bacon
The recipe is called “roasted sweet summer corn,” but it’s not summer. Imported corn from the grocery store never tastes the same as just picked off the cob. I wish I could just go to the multitudes of corn fields nearby, but as balmy as it is in Vancouver right now, there isn’t any local corn.
bacon, onions, and corn in pan
No local corn and sad supermarket corn meant that I used my old standby, frozen. I really like frozen corn. It’s convenient, it tastes good, and I actually buy into that whole frozen vegetables are flash frozen at the peak of their goodness thing.
miso butter glazed corn
Obtaining fresh corn aside, this is another one of Chang’s easier (read, quick) recipes. There’s little room for error, after all it has corn, miso butter, bacon and onions. All delicious on their own, all taste-explosiony together. The sweetness of the corn and onions were offset by the saltiness of the bacon and miso butter. I really do love the combination of sweet and salty flavours.
I had this corn last summer at Noodle Bar, and it flavour wise, it was just as good, but something was missing. Looking back at my photos of the Noodle Bar corn I noticed that there were new roasted potatoes tossed in. I think this recipe would really benefit from potatoes. Also, it was a tad on the salty side, so if I were to make it again I’d cut down on the amount of miso butter. I guess there can be too much of a good thing!
Roasted Sweet Summer Corn from Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2009
But there can never be enough corn. Or bacon.
more corn please!
The Momofuku name is a registered trademark of Momofuku and David Chang. I'm just using it (fair use?) to refer to his restaurant and cookbook.
All original content and photos is © 2010 copyright & all rights reserved Stephanie Le.
momofukufor2.com is where I document the little tips and tricks I learned while cooking through the Momofuku Cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan.
Subscribe via RSS
Follow me on Twitter