CLEVELAND, Ohio –Farm-fresh sweet corn is one of summer’s sweet pleasures — soft kernels, bursting with sugary juice. If you’re still dropping your ears into a rolling pot of water, you may be cooking the joy right out of them.
“Everyone boils it,” says Craig Sirna of Sirna’s Farm & Market in Chagrin Falls. “I tell them to steam it. Boiling pulls out the nutrients and sweetness. Boiling is old school. You boil everything out of it.”
Sirna recommends a different approach: “Instead of boiling a big pot of water, just put about a half inch of water in the bottom. Shuck the ears, throw them in for five minutes with the lid on, and steam them.”
“When you steam corn, you’ll know what corn really tastes like,” he said.
He’s not alone in that thinking. Chef Jamie Simpson at The Chef’s Garden in Huron, also steers clear of the boiling pot. He prefers to keep the husk on and steam the cobs.
“I recommend cooking the corn in the husk,” Simpson said. “You can bake it, poach it, grill it, or even microwave it. The end result is a steamed kernel with no leaching of sugars, water, or flavor.”
Both Simpson and Sirna agree that steaming — whether with the husk on or off — preserves the natural sweetness and tender crunch that make just-picked corn special.
And today’s sweet corn varieties are better than ever. “Our sweet corns are so good anymore,” Sirna says, “that people are amazed when they taste them steamed.”
So, this season, skip the boil. A few minutes of steam is all it takes to transform farm-stand ears into the star of your summer table.
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Dining and Cooking