Miso Sweetcorn Chowder
Potato and sweetcorn chowder thickened by blending half the pot, with white miso stirred in at the end and a few charred kernels on top. Vegetarian, ready in 45 minutes.
Miso Sweetcorn Chowder
Ingredients
Chowder
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 ½ lb (700 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch dice
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 4 cups corn kernels (from about 5 ears, or frozen and thawed)
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons white miso
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
To finish
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- chili crisp or shichimi togarashi, optional
Instructions
- Soften the aromatics.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery for 6 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute.
- Simmer.
Add the potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender. Add 3 cups of the corn and cook for 3 minutes more.
- Blend half.
Take the pot off the heat. Use an immersion blender to purée roughly half of the soup, leaving plenty of whole potato and kernels. Without an immersion blender, ladle out 3 cups, blend them in a jug and stir them back in.
- Add miso and dairy.
Whisk the miso with a ladle of hot broth in a small bowl until smooth, then stir it into the pot along with the milk, cream and pepper. Warm gently over low heat for 3 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Char the corn.
While the soup warms, cook the remaining 1 cup of corn in a dry skillet over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned in spots.
- Serve.
Ladle into bowls and top with the charred corn, scallions and a few drops of sesame oil. Add chili crisp if you like heat.
Notes
Miso goes in last: Boiling miso dulls its flavour and flattens the aroma. Whisk it into a little hot broth first so it dissolves without lumps.
Salt: Miso and stock are both salty, so taste before adding any. Most pots need none.
Fresh vs. frozen corn: In late summer, slice kernels off the cob and simmer the stripped cobs in the stock for 10 minutes before you start. Remove them before adding the potatoes. It adds a sweet corn flavour.
Vegan: Use oil instead of butter, and replace the milk and cream with 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened oat milk.
Storage: Keeps for 4 days in the fridge. It thickens as it cools, so loosen with a splash of stock when reheating.
