The Queen of the Fields: what are the new chefs cooking with corn?
Corn has long ceased to be exclusively a country product and feels more and more confident on restaurant menus. This summer, chefs cook it on the grill and boil it in milk, combine it with chanterelles, sprats and sea urchin, and also turn to the gastronomic traditions of Asia. Izvestia found out what new ideas had been invented for the queen of the fields in the capital's restaurants and which chefs' ideas could be repeated at home.
The nostalgic component
Despite its simplicity, corn is quite popular with sophisticated guests of the capital's restaurants. Most often it is grilled, complementing the usual product with interesting gastronomic solutions.
— In Moscow, and throughout the middle zone, corn is a nostalgic food, and we are just developing this idea in our restaurant, — Anton Tikhy, brand chef of the Rybtorg restaurant, told Izvestia. — This is a taste from the 1990s, when boiled cobs with salt were sold at the subway or on beaches in the south. If you cook corn on the grill, it becomes fragrant due to the caramelization of sugars, acquires smoky shades and a crisper texture, which is lacking in the boiled version.
Grilled corn with Baltic sprat tapenade and sesame kimchi
In the corn variation from our interlocutor, the main role in the dish is played by an elegant solution with the addition of an umami component. Baltic sprats give a powerful salty-smoked taste, and in the form of tapenade — crushed with garlic and a small amount of olive oil — they are ideally combined with slightly crispy corn fried in butter and then burnt with a burner. Salt and sesame kimchi add depth and volume to the taste, and the sharpness of the kimchi sets off the brightness of the sprats. The result is a light summer snack in which a familiar taste takes on a new sound.
For grilling, brand chef Tikhy uses sweet corn. He recommends taking slightly unripe cobs with dense young grains. To make corn on a home or country grill turn out perfectly, you need to consider a few simple tricks. Do not completely peel the cob from the outer leaves: remove only the hard ones and bake the corn directly in the remaining leaves on coals or at 200 ° C for about 15 minutes. So it will be steamed and will remain juicy. Then peel the cob completely, brush with oil and let it roast over direct heat just before serving, so that a light charcoal trail appears.
If you are using charcoal instead of firewood, soak the cobs in cold water for an hour before cooking so that they do not dry out inside. It is better to salt the corn only at the end: otherwise, the salt will draw out moisture, and the grains will shrink. And, of course, you should definitely add butter to the grilled corn.
Grilled corn with miso mayonnaise, tuna shavings and spicy shichimi
Another interesting author's version of grilled corn appeared this summer in the updated menu of the Svoboda bar. Here, a popular seasonal product is complemented with spicy accents, turning a simple cob into a more complex snack.
— The idea arose spontaneously: we wanted to serve a seasonal dish in an unusual and interesting way, having come up with original additions to it, — admits the chef of the glass room Hassan Maksudov. — At the same time, we decided to place a special emphasis on fish ingredients, which go well with corn.
Before cooking, the corn is soaked in saline solution, and then boiled in it with bay leaf and selected spices. After cooking, the cobs are cut into portions and transferred to the sauce. Japanese mayonnaise made from lime, lemon, mustard, egg yolk and rice vinegar is prepared for him at Svoboda. The corn is liberally greased with sauce, grilled and sprinkled with spices. Fermentation products, different types of algae, pepper and other spices are used as topping, and bonito chips of fermented tuna are added on top of the cob. These ingredients enhance the overall flavor profile and add additional bright shades to the dish.
A complex cob
Boiled corn is also not discounted in restaurants and sometimes appears in a completely new perspective due to more complex cooking techniques.
— Corn is a very understandable product that many people are used to eating with their hands, hot, straight from the cob, — says Victor Shaidetsky, brand chef of Manul restaurant. — It was interesting for me to transfer this feeling to a restaurant and put just a whole ear of corn on the menu with a fairly high check. There is a bit of irony in this, but at the same time we prepare the dish quite seriously. It turns out to be such a summery contrast: a product familiar from childhood, but worked out by restaurant technicians.
Dairy corn with fried milk
In Manul, corn is first boiled in milk to make it more tender and creamy. Then they use noisette butter, a melted butter with a characteristic nutty aroma, the taste of which is further enhanced by fried milk made on the basis of infant formula. Before serving, the corn is also grilled, adding another layer of smoke. On top, the cob is complemented with smoked pigtail cheese cream and crispy fried milk crumbs. As a result, the taste is based on a combination of sweet corn, rich creaminess and smoked notes. At the same time, some of the leaves are left so that the cob can be picked up by hand and eaten the way corn is usually eaten at home.
To make boiled corn more gastronomic, our expert advises cooking it in milk. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan, then pour the fat milk over the corn, add butter, salt and spices to taste and cook directly in this mixture. This is enough to make the taste more creamy and saturated. It is not necessary to completely peel the cob: the leaves have a lot of their own flavor, so it is better to cook corn with them. For the same reason, it is good to bake it in leaves, wrapped in foil: both moisture and flavor will remain inside.
From Hokkaido to Bali
Strangely enough, some dishes with corn came to us from other gastronomic traditions, including from the expanses of Asia.
— Corn is quite typical for modern Japanese cuisine, especially during the season. They prefer sweet varieties that are used very widely," Vadim Malkov, chef of the Japanese restaurant Motto Azabu, explained to Izvestia. — For example, in Sapporo, Hokkaido, corn is traditionally added as topping for miso ramen. Another popular option is tomorokosi, when fresh corn is deep—fried and served with a sauce based on mayo and dashi or simply with salt. This is a fairly common beer snack that can be found in Japanese restaurants.
Corn ramen with wagyu and uni
It is also common to find cold corn soups in restaurants in Japan, which are served between courses as a seasonal dish. Motto Azabu also has its own version of this soup: it is a summer interpretation of the classic ramen served iced. The dish is based on wheat noodles and cold corn broth, the consistency of which resembles fresh corn juice. Thanks to a special technology using beer starch, corn does not thicken the broth, so it remains light and fluid.
Agidasi sauce made from white soy sauce, mirin and dasi is added to the ramen. It gives the necessary depth of flavor and pronounced umami, but it does not interrupt the natural sweetness of corn. A separate accent is uni, that is, the sea urchin. In Japanese cuisine, the combination of seasonal sweet corn and uni is quite common: the sweetness of corn well emphasizes the creamy, iodized and slightly sweet nature of seafood. In our interlocutor's ramen, this combination is revealed especially vividly due to the contrast of temperatures and textures.
If Japanese cuisine has already been quite well studied by Moscow gourmets, then Indonesian, and especially Balinese, is still little known to most. This year, the Made in Bali gastrocultural center appeared in the capital, where you can now learn more about this distinctive culinary tradition. The project's kitchen is headed by chef Nikita Tolkachev, who offers an author's menu created in collaboration with invited Indonesian chef Nathan Bratajaja from Tanau Restaurant in Bali. Among the items presented in it is a roti with torn beef and truffle corn.
Roti with torn rendang beef and truffle corn
—Corn is widely distributed in Indonesia as a characteristic street food product," Nikita Tolkachev shares his observations. — It's grilled and served with hot sauce. Indonesians also like it for breakfast and cook something like our usual doughnuts: canned grains are additionally added to the cornmeal dough and deep fried.
Roti in Made in Bali is a variation on the theme of Indonesian street food. Rendang— a spicy torn beef stewed in coconut milk, was used as a basis. In the restaurant's version, it was made closer to the tastes of the capital's guests, removing excessive sharpness. The meat is complemented with mini corn on the cob, which is prepared using confit technology with truffle oil and truffle paste. The dish is also served with canned corn cream with tabasco and salted popcorn.
Seasonal Union
Corn is able to emphasize the seasonal nature of the dish and in combination with other products that appear on the menu only in summer. For example, in the annual chanterelle cocktail at the Maroon Middle Eastern restaurant, the popular red mushrooms are served with corn porridge — polenta. This combination becomes an interesting alternative to the more familiar risotto with chanterelles for restaurant gastronomy.
"Corn is not the main product of classic Middle Eastern cuisine, but in this case polenta was chosen primarily as a good base that goes well with mushrooms," said Maroon brand chef Vladimir Bogozhavets. — Porridge acts as a neutral and at the same time rich base, which reveals the taste of chanterelles well. And with the help of spices and their combinations, we add a special character to the dish, conveying the spirit of our restaurant's cuisine.
Polenta with chanterelles, manchego, caymac and truffle oil
Corn has a natural sweetness that plays well with chanterelles, our interlocutor continues. Manchego cheese adds salinity and nutty notes, kaymak makes the texture more creamy, and truffle oil enhances the mushroom flavor. The result is a rich but balanced dish where polenta combines all the ingredients.
For the preparation of polenta, it is better to choose medium-sized yellow corn groats, and ideally coarse. One part of the cereal will require about four parts of water or broth. Add the polenta gradually, stirring constantly, and then cook over low heat until soft and smooth. Take your time: the slower it cooks, the more creamy it will turn out in the end. It is better to add cheese, butter or kaymak at the very end.
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