If you’re anything like me, your summer meals are filled with corn. Corn on the cob, corn chowder, scalloped corn, the possibilities are nearly endless. Our favorite is the bicolor corn. It seems like we eat almost every other night. In fact, it is so good I occasionally eat it raw. (Except I would never serve corn on the cob to my French friends. They were quite shocked when I served them that because that’s what they feed their horses!)
Another one of my favorite varieties of corn are the baby corns. You might be unfamiliar with what baby corn is because it is typically grown in Asia. You can find some in heavily populated Asian cities such as those in California, New York, Texas, and Florida.
Baby corns are young corn grown from any variety of corn starting from seeds from 45 to 50 days. The kernels are barely developed and the core is still tender, making it a small crisp corn similar to zucchini. The flavor is rather bland, though there is still a detectable corn essence. Since it is bland, it picks up the flavors of the ingredients around it.
You can simply sauté in a little butter and season with salt or pepper, or maybe stir-fry with a bit of garlic and oyster sauce, or blanch it and toss into your own little salad. Whatever way you can cook your regular corn, you can do with this too. It can be the star of the show or maybe just a sidekick. Baby corns are a very versatile vegetable.
So maybe next year you can plant your own baby corns. They'll become a favorite in your repertoire!
