I was amused by the positive reaction of many guests to the corn we served at the Marketmanila.com eyeball in Cebu a few days ago. It is really easy to do. I even wrote about it a year and a half ago, in a post here. Here are the detailed instructions to this simple and delicious version.
1. If you live in Cebu, drive up to Busay until you hit the roadside corn vendors. Check the quality of one or two ears of their corn. It must have nice yellow, uniform and healthy looking kernels. You could taste it raw if you want to see how fresh and sweet it is. Buy only corn that has been picked from the stalk in the last 4-5 hours. You may have to buy your corn mid-morning to get the freshest picks… but that depends on your chosen vendor. For the eyeball, we warned the supplier ahead of time, and they assured us the corn was practically JUST picked from the fields…
2. Back at home, remove and discard the outermost tough layer of husk, retaining all the other underlying layers. Next, peel the husk back carefully and remove the silk or “hair” from each cob. Cover the corn back up and soak in clean water for some 15-20 minutes to hydrate the husk a bit. Then shake off the water, open the husk again and slather say 1 talespoon of softened butter directly on the corn kernels and close the husk back up and tie the ends with a piece of corn husk. Set this aside until you have prepped all of your corn.
3. Over a hot charcoal fire, grill the corn and turn them a little every few minutes until cooked… some 15-18 minutes depending on the heat of your fire and distance from heat source. The husks will char slightly, but the damp husks will in effect “steam” the corn while the butter melts and occupies all the nooks and crannies on the cob. Don’t be surprised if some melted butter escapes and causes flare-ups on the grill. But keep moving the husks around so you don’t burn the corn.
4. Take this off the the grill and let them rest roughly 5 minutes before serving.
It is incredibly simple. But the results are a moist, smokey, buttery corn on the cob that should hopefully bring a smile to your face, as it did during the eyeball. :) If you have leftovers, just slice off the kernels and saute with some butter as a great side dish for your next meal.
39 Responses
i can taste i already.
thanks MM!
If you live in Cebu, drive up to Busay…. 3am Florida am still awake… ah now wishing am in Cebu driving to Busay to get corns.
I love eating corns freshly harvested and the thought of pulling the hair off my teeth adds fun as well..
I’m craving for them right now…
Ay, sarap! I would even add salt to the butter! And have a nice butttery smile with corn-flecked teeth after consuming several ears of that corn!!!!
Sounds so good…interesting way to cook and interesting pesentation as well. Lami..
Thanks MM for the instructions on grilling sweet corn. As an extension of the EB, Millet and I will meet in Makati on Nov. 29 afternoon for coffee and reminisce the flavors of your Accuchon and grilled corn. I emailed her that if we meet on Saturday morning, we can hie off to Salcedo Market and who knows we might find you there.
moni wrote,
“I emailed her that if we meet on Saturday morning, we can hie off to Salcedo Market and who knows we might find you there.”
…and maybe more marketmanila fans who missed the EB and are hoping for a round 2 of the EB…
my friend uses this mixture and brushes it over the corn: salt, tons of good butter, cayenne pepper, a bit of honey. Sometimes she adds cheese too. She says she tasted something similar in the US that she ate with barbequed ribs. Sarap!
a simple pleasure in life that is also a must for me whenever I’m in the Phils with access to a charcoal grill : eat freshly grilled corn on the cob. :)
I luv grilled corn, with butter and quickmelt cheese!
mmmmmmm—yumm….i can smell it….one of the ”joys of summer”
yummmmm, the smell of melted butter on corn
Is that a sweetcorn…. sometimes I don’t like sweetcorns… the taste can sometimes be boring, i like a little bluntness on my corn… and I like it hard rather than soft..
ohhhhh…. your corn looks great MM…
Still… I cant eat hard food… its my 6th day T___T
this is the kind of food i want to eat, so when i saw margarita forres holding one i immedietely ask her where she got it. i think it arrived at the later part of the buffet. the corn is the best,it’s al dente, not hard not watery.
love it! OMG! i have to try this next time we grill. hehe.
thanks MM :)
Combined grilling and steaming method into one rewarded with flavorful and moist corn. I agree with ragamuffin girl if you want an extra zing and zang on your grilled corn add cayenne pepper, tabasco sauce or dried ancho chile powder and grated cheese in the work. This is how the Hispanic people dressed up their grilled corn. There is a new variety of corn that is out on the market recently – they are labeled “Sweet Red Corn.†I tell you they are the best so far. I just throw them in the microwave.
Thank you Maria Clara for that info. I will buy the seeds from Burpee and plant it next summer…can’t wait for summer…When it is corn season here, my family prefers the White corn…i think it’s called Sugar Pearl. I wonder if you steam or boil this Ruby Queen corn, won’t the color fade? I guess it won’t if you grill them the way MM did! That would be so neat when my brother has his annual barbecue in his backyard…we will have RED, WHITE and YELLOW corn!!!!
I did read MM’s post on those grilled corns way back, and been doing it.
When we did visit the farm of one of our growers in the Busay area, we chanced upon a freshly harvested corn and we jumped out of the car and bought. Immediately cooked them when we got back to apartment and ate 3kilos between two of us. It was that good!
We were with Zac Sarian, the agriculture editor of Manila Bulletin and he even published the picture of the sweet corn vendor who had an equally charming smile :)
If you are sure that the corn is pesticide free, you should eat freshly harvested corn, raw. Crunchy, sweet, juicy…
all the effort that went into the preparation of the grilled corn showed in its pure yummy-ness. corn and lechon sisig, they are kindred spirits. thank you, The Crew, for all the effort getting everything ready for us.
moni, hopw it doesn’t rain on Saturday, no. i bet we’ll make a beeline for the lechon stall :-)
That was definitely the best corn on a cob!
Bravo!!! MM! A fantastic and easy to follow recipe. I am game for this one.
i like to cook my corn the same way you do, mm. when the corn is cooked, i deep it into melted butter and then sprinkle it with a lot of parmiggiano cheese…yummy!!!
Me and my officemate is just talking about how good it is to eat corn nowadays for merienda.=) As usual this made me hungry now.
It was fun seeing all the pictures of the food but I fell in love more with the table setting you had for the eyeball. It has that elegant vibe in it mixed with a very casual atmosphere.
My wish for Santa is to have me attend one of your eyeballs next year hehehe=) I think I have been extra good this year.
Cheers MarketMan!=)
The way MM cooks it is really unique.. I will try this one… maybe next week… my sister and I planned a grill session next week…
any early post about grilling meat MM?
thanks….
Grabe- the trouble you go through to have the perfect dish! iLove it! This will work well with any kind of corn (basta fresh!) I’m sure be it Brentwood corn from CA or even the heirloom (small, white, ‘malagkit’) variety sold in Teresa, Rizal- my home province. :-)
Hi! i just discovered this site when i was looking for an inasal recipe..and i was really impressed with everything! ill be making the inasal and this corn will be next… sayang hindi ko ito nakita during my six month stay in cebu..it could have helped a lot..
Thanks MM! My husband was so happy with this post because i a mentioned in an earlier comment, he wants to sell outside of our gate!hahaha! that’s how in love he is with this corn that he believes he can make money out of it! mrs. MM, i’ll let you know if this venture is a success…(i think between me and my children pa lang, the corn will be wiped out, lugi na!)
WOW… joan… can you give me some if you will make these lovely corn?
hehehe..just kidding
I love sweet corn! I’m sure it tastes superb.
Hey Joan…the key to MM’s delicious corn is FRESHNESS at its peak! If the corn is two or three days old, it will lose its sweetness and starchiness. So don’t rely on merchants’ word saying it is bagong pitas! …look for signs it is “just picked”…like MM said…the corn husk ….bright green and tight around the corn. if however, they peel the corn husk a little at a time, then taste 1 kernel! I don’t think they would have a problem letting you taste it if you say you will buy BULK! Another sign it is mature is the SILK or HAIR the corn should feel PLUMP AND FULL all the way to the tip of the corn even if you don’t peek through. …and the silk should be DARK BROWN!!!…I hope you are successful in this corn venture….If I were to do this, I would just start with say a couple of dozens to start NOT INCLUDING THE ONES you and your kids will eat! …pag wala na….put a sign SOLD OUT or READY AT SUCH and SUCH a TIME! if I was a repeat customer an has tasted your awesoem corn, I will come back…..NOW here is a POTENTIAL problem as I see it sooooo many times happen to my sister!….In no time at all when your kapitbahays see people are hovering around your gate and lining up, there will be more vendors on your street selling the same stuff you have in a few days of your GRND OPENING!!!…then you would have to resort to GIMMICK NO. 2! …have different flvoured butters …..that you would dip the corn TO ORDER!!!!….another one would be on certain days have BUY ONE, get the SECOND ONE at HALF PRICE SALE!!! Your aim here is VOLUME without LOSING your shirt as they say!!! This is only if you have a gazillion competitors on your street!!!!
GOOD LUCK!!!!
What an exciting and unique way to cook corn.I have to try MM’s technique when our backyard corn is ready for harvest early next year…….can’t wait!!
Thank you so much for sharing,MM!
MM, the next time you prepare corn this way, on a couple of ears, do not remove the corn silk. The corn silk inparts additional flavor and is quite easy to remove when the ear is finished cooking. Oh so delicious!
hahaha, bettyq I was just imagining what you said, vendors selling the same stuff a few days after the grand opening. so true! thanks a lot for the GREAT advice, because i don’t have any idea how to buy good corn – it’s not my forte. I would rather bake all day! we will scout around for suppliers in the area where MM bought his.Maki if you’re here in Cebu, I would gladly send you some IF hindi palpak the corn we will cook. we haven’t tried yet. The grill of MM beside the lechonan is fantastic, wishing we could build the same. Mga 48 years pa siguro before we could build the same one…hehehehe
We usually save surplus boiled corn on the cob from going bad by roasting them. They turn out to be even better since they don’t have to be cooked for too long and don’t become overly dry. Doing it with the husk on is a great idea so you don’t have the charred kernels that stick to your teeth.
….also Joan…if you decide to go with the Buy 1, get the 2nd one for half price sale….you might want to put a limit on it…like Limit 4 only…if not there might be people who will buy your inventory and RE-SELLL them!!!!! How big is your roaster?
Yum! My favorite…sweet corn slathered in butter. I remember buying Ateneo sweet corn in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Wonder if that’s still around or if they had to raze the maize for more buildings…
Bettyq, I know what you mean for those corn turning “starchy”. That’s why I grill or boil mine right after purchasing. When we were stationed in North Carolina,we ived in the “boondocks” area 1 hour away from the town of Jacksonville. One summer a neighbor invited us to harvest as much corn as we want (for free), that was planted by one of the rancher. The farm was more than 2 acres big. I was so amazed and was in awe that I cannot help myself but bite into a corn that I just plucked. Ommigosh, it was so sweet, I mean, one can actually eat it raw. We filled up 2 truckloads, and husked them, and put them in ziplock and freeze. To say the least, we had 3 huge freezer full of fresh corn.
Aha, EbbaMyra…there you are! I was wondering where you were…I missed you!
You are so right about eating raw corn just picked…Two years ago, I planted white corn in my garden. I had about 40 stalks only though I wish I planted more corn than anything else. While tending to the garden, weeding , watering, etc. I would sometimes pluck 1 ear of corn and eat it right there….sooooo goood! But next time you go U-PICK…don’t throw away the husk! …once you remove the corn from the husk, soak it in water while you’re doing this next….grill a salmon fillet say about 4 to6 ounces each portion…only a couple of minutes each side (of course, season the salmon fillet first), then place it in the center of the husk. RESHAPE the husk carefully. Tie the tip with a strip of corn husk. Then grill it on barbecue till the husk is lightly charred. Untie the husk, tucking the top half under revealing the salmon….nap the salmon with mango orpeach or nectarine salsa and serve it with other grilled vegetables and grilled or steamedcorn….hay, masaaaaarap!!!
Oh gosh, thanks for the tip Ms Bettyq. I will sure do this salmon. Nawala ako for a while, kasi I finished my contract job, eh dito naman sa bahay, ay sus, no time to get into the PC, everybody wanted my time, now that I don’t work outside the house, siempre pa, inside the house naman, hahah, with 3 apos ayyy naku. Pulos boys pa. Anyway, I tried wrapping the salmon with banana leaves before, and then grilling it, sarap din po. I topped it with some herbs and slices of lemon.
I was able to purchase the bamboo steamer and will try all the recipe that you’ve share, plus the latest biko, kaya nga lang, kailangan walang mga apo na aalagaan para makagawa ako ng mga kakanin. And since I discovered this place that serves Cebu lechon, ayy naku, ayos na ang Pasko dinner ko.
bettyq my griller is very small, we need to purchase one that’s wide enough to grill about a dozen corns at the same time.