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Summer Corn Soup Sips|Weston Table

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Summer Corn Soup Sips

This simple, delicious recipe rescues corn from complete bad boy status and puts it back in good graces—at least when consumed in moderation and only during its short summer season when local corn is in abundance.

Americans have a love-hate relationship with corn. Since Michael Pollan began educating consumers on the complex relationship between corn and most items on supermarket shelves, its reputation has suffered. This simple, delicious recipe rescues corn from complete bad boy status and puts it back in good graces—at least when consumed in moderation and only during its short summer season when local corn is in abundance. It should be called "liquid velvet"—it is meant to be a refreshing, light, full-corn flavored soup that tastes like summer at its peak. With only 4 ingredients (one of them water), this soup is an inexpensive luxury. The final step of pushing the corn through a mesh strainer gives the soup its velvety texture. There are those, however, who will choose to skip this time intensive step and slurp up a bowl (no spoon needed) of sweet summer maize fiber intact—nothing wrong with this approach! Indigenous to Mexico, this 10,000 year old grain plant soup is wonderful served cold in a mug with lobster rolls, or enjoyed as the main course with a lightly dressed simple salad that won't compete with this subtly rich liquid wonder that is so much more fun when sipped from a martini glass.

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cuisine American
difficulty Simple
season Summer
serves 6

Ingredients

  • 8 ears corn, shucked, kernels removed (reserve cobs)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
  • Water

Directions

  1. Place the reserved corncobs in a stock pot large enough to hold them. Barely cover the cobs with cold water.
  2. Bring cobs to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, skimming any impurities that rise to the top.
  3. Meanwhile, add the butter to a 12" skillet and melt it over a medium flame. Add the corn kernels and salt and cook the kernels, covered with a tight lid, over medium-low heat. Stir the mixture frequently until tender. Do not allow the kernels to brown.
  4. When the corn stock and kernels are both done, cover the kernels with the stock by about 1 inch. Reserve the rest of the stock. Cook over medium heat until the corn is tender.
  5. Puree the soup as finely as possible in a Vitamix, blender, or food processor.
  6. Strain the pureed corn soup through a fine strainer. Use a wooden spoon to push as much of the corn through as possible. Adjust the texture with the extra corn water stock. Season with sea salt to balance the sweet taste of the corn.
  7. Pour into vessels and enjoy at room temperature or serve cold.

Kitchen Notes

Sometimes the soup is just too thick to push through the strainer. Return the soup to the Vitamix and add some of the reserved corn stock to thin (not too much) and then return to the strainer. All that should be left in the strainer is a mound of dried corn fiber. Do not make this recipe with frozen corn. To avoid corn kernels flying everywhere when removing from the cob, cut the cobs in half first, or place the ear of corn on the tube of a bundt pan and let the kernals fall into the base as you slice them off. This soup is fine for two days in the refrigerator.
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