How to cook corn properly

Corn contains vitamins, minerals (including silicon, magnesium, potassium and iron), proteins, essential amino acids — leucine, isoleucine and valine; it has a lot of fiber and carbohydrates (18.7 g per 100 g of product). This wonderful vegetable deserves to be on your table in August while it’s in season! We tell you how to cook corn so that everything works out.

Choose the right cobs

Corn for cooking should not be the most ripe. The season for it lasts until the beginning of September.

Look under the corn leaves. The kernels on the cob should be light yellow, opaque and resilient. If the kernels are already rich yellow and dimpled, the corn is too ripe to cook. Do not choose cobs that are too large: the grains in them are coarser, and they will not fit in a cooking dish.

Pay attention to the leaves themselves (it is better to buy corn with leaves): they should be elastic and green, not withered.

Prepare the cobs for cooking

Separate the leaves from the cob; the upper, most rigid, can be thrown away. Rinse young leaves, they will come in handy. Wash the cobs thoroughly.

Now that’s too ripe corn to cook.

If you are cooking corn in a pot, boil the water separately.

Boil water for the corn in a separate pot or kettle. In another pan, put the washed corn leaves on the bottom, the cobs themselves on top, and you can also cover them with leaves on top. The leaves will add extra flavor to the corn.

Pour boiling water over the corn so that the top leaves disappear under water.

Cover the pot with a lid and simmer the corn for 20-30 minutes.

Salt the water for the corn at the very end of the boil.

You need to boil corn in unsalted water; add salt no earlier than 15 minutes before the end of cooking. Otherwise, the grains will become too hard.

Try boiling corn in a double boiler or in a slow cooker

If you have already boiled corn in a pot, try steaming it in a double boiler or slow cooker. In the latter, you can choose to steam or put the cobs in a bowl.

In any case, the corn will be heated evenly from all sides, under pressure and without evaporation of moisture; all this will only make it tastier.

Record the cooking time

A slow cooker is also the fastest way to cook corn. For young cobs, you will need 15 minutes in the boil mode or 20 minutes in the steam mode. In the pan, you will need at least 30 minutes, and for some varieties, more than an hour.

Check readiness

This can be done by piercing the grains with a fork. Another option is to try one grain. Ready corn should be juicy and sweet. Drain the water and transfer the cobs to a plate.

Serve the corn with butter, coarse salt and herbs.

Enjoy your meal!