Chilled Corn and Coconut Soup

Chilled Corn and Coconut Soup

To get the eye-rolling, toe-curling results I get from this soup, there are two things I strongly advise you to adhere: one, you must strain this after blending. I have tried both ways, and strained is far superior. Simply pureeing without straining still leaves a fine “chunkiness” to the soup thanks to the fibrous outer kernels. This is not what you want. You want a buttery smooth puree. I’ll grant you it’s a tedious process to strain through a fine mesh sieve, but it only takes a few minutes, and the results are definitely worth it.

Two; as noted above, use corn as fresh as possible. Ideally bought right from the farm or farmer’s market so you know it was picked that morning. I don’t even bother with the shucked cobs wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store. In fact, I don’t bother with grocery store cobs at all, they’re almost always at least a few days old, and the flavour has faded to a bland, starchy nothingness. If you don’t have access to fresh picked corn, you’re better off buying frozen, which is flash-frozen as soon as it comes in from the fields.

Makes: about 2½ litres
Chef level: moderate

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter, preferably grass fed
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup red onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp fresh garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch salt and pepper
• A few dashes cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp white miso (don’t skip this!)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 6 corn cobs, shucked and cobs broken in half and reserved
• 2 litres vegetable stock 
• The peel of one lime
• Juice of one lime
• 400ml can of full fat coconut milk, preferably organic 

How to Make It: 

1. Into a large soup pot, warm butter and oil over medium low heat until butter has melted.
2. Meanwhile, shuck the corn: laying each cob on its side, gently slice off the kernels in one sheet. Laying the cob on its side, as opposed to standing it upright and running your knife down the cob is much neater as the kernels don’t go flying everywhere. Once all six cobs have been shucked, break each cob in half and reserve.
3. Once the butter is melted and frothy, add onion and garlic, stirring to combine, and season lightly with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
4. Once softened, but not browned, add the miso to the mixture, stirring to dissolve. 
5. Pour in white wine. 
6. Add the corn kernels and paprika and stir to combine.
7. Add the stock, lime peel, and broken cobs. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
8. Once boiling, reduce to medium-low and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
9. Test for salt and pepper, you will need more, adjust to your liking, and add in lime juice.
10. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly.
11. Remove the lime peel and broken cobs and discard.
12. Using an hand or stand blender*, whiz on high speed for at least three minutes until well pureed and smooth.
13. Take a second stock pot or very large bowl and place a fine mesh sieve across the rim of the bowl or pot. In sections, pour in the soup, stirring with a spatula and pressing on solids. What should be left behind is a fairly dry ball of husks. The new pot should have a buttery, silky smooth puree. Rinse the sieve and repeat this procedure until you have strained all the soup. It should take about three repeats. Again, tedious, but necessary. Pour yourself a glass of wine and deal with it.
14. Once the soup is nicely strained, add the can of coconut milk and stir to combine. Allow to cool completely, and store, tightly sealed in the fridge until ready to use. This will last 3-4 days in the fridge.

*If using a stand blender, do not seal tightly as hot liquid will blow the top off causing a huge mess and likely maming of some kind. Cover with a clean kitchen towel for the safest use. 

Wine Pairing:

The buttery, silky texture of this soup, combined with the rich coconut and sweet corn flavours make this a no-brainer for Chardonnay. Reach for something with a touch of oak and weight, such as a bottle from Niagara, Sonoma County, or Pouilly-Fuisse.