Spring

Corn Sesame Custard

by:
July 19, 2016
4
1 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

A bite of this corn custard is like sinking your teeth into summertime. It is served cold, and is such a refreshing contrast to the funky baechu kimchi. Its like jumping into a cold swimming pool after a hot tub. At the restaurant we have a dehydrator that which dries corn kernels that we then grind into an intensified corn powder. If you're making this at home, you can easily substitute with freeze-dried corn, which they sell nowadays at most grocery stores. - Sunny Lee, Insa —Food52

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 6 ears of corn, shucked
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • salt to taste
Directions
  1. This first step needs to be done the day before. Take 1 ear of corn and cut it off the cob. Lay the kernels to dry in a dehydrator (at 160*F) overnight, until fully dry and crunchy. In a spice grinder, grind up the sesame seeds and dried corn together. Reserve the corn powder in a dry container with a tight fitting cover.
  2. Now you have five ears of corn. Take two of the ears and cut the kernels off the cob and place into a bowl, with the remaining three ears, grate them very carefully using the coarsest setting on a box grater. The end result should be half pureed and half chunky bits of corn. The best part of this custard is the spectrum of textures that the corn has— so don't be nervous when you see a mishmash of corn bits and pieces.
  3. Once the corn is all off the cob, heat a small pot with the butter until the butter is melted and just starting to bubble up. Pour the corn mixture in and start to stir it over medium high heat. Keep stirring, to prevent any sticking, and add 1 tsp of salt to cajole the flavors out of the corn.
  4. As the corn comes to a boil, you'll notice that it will start to thicken up into a pudding. Once it comes to a boil, stir for another two minutes and then turn off the heat. The key is to cook the corn all the way, but also maintain the freshness of the vegetable. Cool the custard down and serve it cold, topping it with the corn powder.

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1 Review

Sara J. August 29, 2016
I am wondering if you could substitute corn meal for the dehydrated corn kernels ground up? Thank you!