Here in the Philippines, corn is consumed in a number of ways: boiled or grilled and eaten on the cob, kernelled and mixed with grated coconut, as in binatog; dried, deep-fried, and made into crunchy cornick; or layered with shaved ice and bathed in milk a la mais con hielo. Let’s face it, corn is mostly treated here as a snack and rarely as the filling meal ingredient that it is.
[RECIPE: For your next pilaf, use white native corn instead of rice]This recipe changes that, taking inspiration from the creamy corn soup of the west. But to make it extra nutritious and colorful, we added carrots and substituted cream or milk with coconut milk for extra flavor and as a dairy-free alternative.
Puréeing is a necessary step in this corn soup just to make things smoother and closer to a soup consistency. But you can decide whether you want to keep a few bites and chunks here and there. Overall, it’s a fairly simple recipe that requires very little of you: just familiarity with spices and maybe a little patience to let it cool down before puréeing and then heating it up again.
Tip: Serve it with a carb to make it a full meal. Think dinner rolls or even malunggay-speckled pandesal to sop up its creaminess.
Creamy corn, carrot, and coconut milk soup
Ingredients
2 cans corn kernels, drained
500 g carrots, diced
2 cups coconut milk
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 pc white onion, sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp yellow curry powder
2 cups water
2/3 cup vegetable stock cubes or chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro for garnish (optional)
Preparation
- Sauté onions and ginger in oil over medium heat until onions become translucent. Add yellow curry powder and continue sautéing for another 2 minutes.
- Add half of the corn, water, broth, carrot, and coconut milk then bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and let it simmer for about an hour.
- While simmering, sauté the remaining corn with 1 tbsp oil for 3 to 5 mins. Set aside.
- After reducing the soup, let it cool down before pouring it into your blender/food processor. If the soup is too thick, add more coconut milk or broth. Process it until the soup is almost smooth with very little grainy texture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Reheat blended soup with sautéed corn. Serve with bread or pita and garnish with cilantro.