Chinese

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

 

A comforting, thick and filling vegetarian soup without being heavy. Delicately flavored broth that has carrots, corn kernels, cabbage and beans going into it. Extremely easy to prepare provided you have cream style corn on hand. Of course, you can make your own cream style corn but I usually buy ready made cream style corn. So, ready to re-create restaurant style sweet corn vegetable soup at home?

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup Recipe

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15 min

Yield: 4

Main Ingredients: sweet corn mixed vegetables

Ingredients

• Sweet Corn, cream style: 1 tin
• Sweet corn kernels: 1/2 cup (boiled)
• Vegetable stock: 1.25 litres (5 cups) OR water
• French beans: 8 (finely chopped)
• Cabbage: 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
• Carrot: 1 (finely chopped)
• Cornflour: 2 1/2 tbsps (corn starch)
• Sugar: 3/4 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• White pepper powder: as required
• Spring onion greens: 3-4 tbsps (finely chopped)

Method

1. In a heavy bottomed vessel or wok, add the cream style sweet corn and vegetable stock or water. Mix.
2. Add the chopped carrot, beans, cabbage, boiled corn and stir to mix. Cook for 5 mts on medium flame.
3. Mix the cornflour in 4 tbsps of vegetable stock or water and keep aside.
4. Add sugar and salt to the simmering soup and cook further for 3-4 mts. Add white pepper powder and mix.
5. Add the cornflour mixture and go on stirring till the soup thickens. Turn off heat and pour into soup bowls.
6. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

Tips

• Vegetable stock can be prepared by boiling 6-7 cups of water, 1 large onion (quarter it), a carrot (slice it) and a potato (large cubes). Boil till water reduces to 5 1/2 cups. Turn off heat, strain the stock and discard vegetables.
• You can use black pepper powder instead of white pepper powder.
• Sugar can be reduced to 1/2 tablespoon.
• Adjust corn flour according to the desired thickness of soup. More corn flour yields a thicker soup.
• You can prepare cream style corn at home. Take 2 corn cobs, take a share knife and scrap the corn kernels. Melt a tbsp of butter in a vessel, add 3/4th of the corn kernels and saute for 2 mts. Blend the remaining corn kernels to a paste. Add this corn paste and a tbsp of sugar to the vessel and mix. Add 1/4 cup of water and 3 tbsps milk (optional ingredient) and cook for 7-8 mts. Mix a tbsp of flour in 3 tbsps water and mix. Add the corn flour mixture and go on stirring till it thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Cool and freeze until use.

 

 

 

 

Corn Manchurian Fried Rice Recipe

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 30 min Yield: 4 Main Ingredients: sweet corn rice

Its been a while since I prepared a rice dish with an Indian Chinese touch. I had prepared Corn manchurian as an evening snack for Jahnvi and Nandini. There are hardly any corn recipes on my blog and I was hoping to blog Corn Manchurian but realized that my wife had taken the camera with her and hence I could not take any pictures.
I refrigerated the left over Corn Manchurian hoping to give it a make over. On busy or lazy days when you want to spend less time in the kitchen, left overs come to the rescue. Today was one such day and I decided to use left over rice and manchurian to make a quick one pot meal. A flavorful recipe with minimal ingredients using Indian Chinese cooking technique and spices.

 

Corn Manchurian Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients

• For Corn Manchurian:
• Sweet corn - 1 1/4 cups, coarsely ground
• Maida - 2 tbsps
• Corn flour - 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Green chilies - 1, finely chopped
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying
• For Fried Rice:
• Raw rice - 1 1/4 cups, cooked till each grain is separate or use left over cold rice
• Spring onions - 3, finely chop the whites and greens
• Carrot - 1, (small) finely chopped
• Capsicum - 1, (small) finely chopped
• Garlic - 3 cloves, finely minced
• Dry red chilies - 2, tear into pieces
• Soy sauce - 1/2 tsp
• Vinegar - 1 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Heat oil for deep frying the corn manchurian. While the oil is heating, take a bowl and mix in the coarsely ground sweet corn, green chilies, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, salt, maida and corn flour. Make small balls and deep fry to a golden brown shade. Drain the manchurian and place on absorbent paper. Keep aside.
2. In a cooking vessel, heat oil, add the minced garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add dry chilies and spring onion whites and saute on high flame for 2 mts, tossing the contents constantly.
3. Add the finely chopped carrots, beans and capsicum and saute for 7 to 8 mts on high flame, constantly mixing the contents so that they do not burn. Add salt, vinegar, pepper powder and soy sauce and mix.
4. Add the corn manchurian and mix. Add the cooked rice and mix well for a mt. Adjust salt and turn off flame.
5. Remove onto a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion greens.

Tips

• You can add finely chopped beans, cabbage and cauliflower to boost nutrition quotient.