Crispy Corn

I usually do not use corn in rice or curries. However, I love baby corn in Chinese food though. I wanted to cook something with baby corn but could not find fresh or frozen baby corn and I am not a big fan of canned food in general. It was a bit challenging for me to come up with a menu for this theme. All the corn varieties I usually prepare are snacks, although we sometimes eat these corn varieties for lunch and dinner. Since I posted a salad yesterday, I thought I would do a snack item today.

One of U's cousins owns a restaurant back home and during one of my visits to Hyderabad, he had some cooking trails with a few chefs. One of the items prepared during the trials was crispy corn. I totally loved it and upon request, the chef gave us his recipe. He did not give the measurements though. I do remember the chef mentioning that Green Giant canned corn is what he always used for this recipe and no egg. He deep fried the corn and then tempered it with some garlic, green chilies and soya sauce. I do not remember if he added any more ingredients. Soon after coming back, I did make this recipe a few times but never noted down the recipe. I have not made this recipe in a long time and thought of making it again today.

It turned out good but I felt the corn was a bit sticky despite being crispy. I do not know if it had to do with the corn I used or if it had to do with the frying. I have to try other variety of corn to figure out the right variety of corn for this recipe.

Collage of corn, one in a cone shaped stand and another in a bowl.

Total Time: 25 - 30 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 cans of Corn Niblets (each can is 7 oz can, appox. 1 cup)
2 tbsp. Corn Starch
2 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
½ tsp. Pepper Powder
¼ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
Oil for Deep Frying
1 tbsp. Oil for tempering (Can use less, 1-2 tsp.)
2 Green Chilies chopped or ½ tbsp. chopped Green Chilies (adjust to taste)
2 Garlic Cloves chopped or ½ tbsp. chopped Garlic
1 Green Onion chopped or 2 tbsp. chopped Green Onion
½ tsp. Soya Sauce
⅛ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)

Preparation:

Open the cans and transfer the corn to a colander or a strainer. Rinse the corn under running water and let it drain.
Take the corn into a bowl, add salt, pepper powder and mix well. Add corn flour (starch), all purpose flour and mix so that flours coat the corn.
Heat oil for deep frying. When oil is hot, sprinkle handful of corn in the oil and fry the corn until crispy. This will take about 3-4 minutes on medium - high to high flame. I fried the corn in 3 batches.
Once the corn is crispy, remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.
Once all the corn is fried, take 1-2 tsp. oil in a separate pan for the tempering. Can use the same oil in which the corn was fried.
Add chopped garlic, green chilies and saute for few seconds. Then add green onions, cilantro, soya sauce, salt and mix well.
Add fried corn and mix well until the tempering coats the corn. Fry for few more seconds.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot.

Note:

I wanted to use corn kernels but the store I went to had only corn niblets from Green Giant. There were other brands that had kernels but I do remember the chef mentioning Green Giant brand kernels are the best for this dish. Corn niblets turned out crispy but it was not as crispy as the ones I tasted back home. I need to try other brands to get the right taste.
For tempering I used 1 tablespoon (3 tsp) oil but I felt I could have used less.

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