If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I posted a poll asking if my followers are still keen to see some summer recipes or if I should wave goodbye to summer and embrace pumpkins. To my delight summer recipes won by quite a big margin. We’ve had a pretty mediocre summer here in the UK and being unable to travel abroad, I feel like I want to make the most of the September sun, which has been quite generous lately and that’s why I’m reluctant to part with the summer mode and summer produce just yet.
Corn is firmly in my late summer favourites and we enjoy it daily. Typically charred on a griddle pan (that’s a must) and shaved into a seasonal salad but today I’ve made it into a more comforting, warming meal that is just perfect for chilly evenings. I made a corn ramen inspired by two of my previous recipes, this miso corn soup and my recent corn chowder with vegan chorizo. This soup is creamy and sweet, warming and lightly spiced with ginger and chilli. It’s not difficult to make and it is a perfect for using up cooked corn. I tend to char my corn on a griddle pan first as it adds an extra flavour dimension, but cooked corn would work well enough too. Dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu are defining ramen broth ingredients so if you can get hold of them – I get them in my local Asian grocer, but you can also buy them online – don’t skip them. First, I sauté all the aromatics in a little oil until lightly charred, then I add water, kombu, dried mushrooms and shaved corn cobs to make a simple, flavoursome stock, which will form the base of this dish. To add body, creaminess and sweetness, I blitz charred corn kernels with some creamy soy milk until smooth and add it to the broth. All you need to do next is to season and garnish with your favourite toppings. I used pre-cooked ramen noodles, steamed broccoli and green beans, my favourite tofu, some leftover corn kernels and a drizzle of chilli (or sesame if you don’t like chilli) oil for an extra kick. It looks impressive and tastes great, but it isn’t really that hard to make, promise. We’ve enjoyed it immensely and I hope you and your loved ones will do too.
100 g / 3½ oz tender stem broccoli / green beans, per bowl 50 g / 1¾ oz your favourite tofu or tempeh, per bowl noodles (GF if required), 100 g / 3½ oz precooked noodles, per bowl green parts of spring onions / scallions, thinly sliced sesame seeds, to garnish
