This is a Japanese riff on the Mexican Elote corn that has become so popular since the Mexican restaurant invasion in the last few years. Using Miso goes really well with the sweet corn, giving it a salty umami yet earthy flavour that gets a little addictive, so this recipe ensures that there is plenty of miso butter to go around for extras!

TIME

20 minutes + freezing time

SUITABLE FOR

Ages 12+

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

6 corn cobs with husks | 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened | 2 tbsp shiro miso | 2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil | Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 spice chilli pepper)

WHAT TO DO

  1. In a bowl mix the softened butter with miso paste using a spoon until the butter and miso are fully incorporated i.e. there are no streaks of butter left.
  2. Grab yourself about a 25-30cm length of glad wrap and spoon the miso butter onto the glad wrap about 8cm from the bottom end. Wrap the bottom of the glad wrap over the butter and start shaping it into a cylinder and then roll the rest of the glad wrap around. It should look like a fat sausage. Twist the ends and tie a knot and pop the miso butter into the freezer until completely hard, around 3 hours.
  3. Peel back the husks of the corn without removing and tie them together with kitchen string. Rub the silks off the corn, using a paper towel can help with this.
  4. Brush corn with oil.
  5. Heat a skillet or bbq until hot and then pop the corn on keeping the husks off the heat as much as possible. Cook corn rotating regularly until the kernels are slightly charred and the corn is cooked, about 10 mins.
  6. Take the corn of the heat and then sprinkle with the Shichimi Togarashi, using as much or as little depending on how much heat you want. Then using a grater (a microplane will give best results), grate the miso butter over the corn.

AND THEN

Serve immediately!

TIP

We have frozen the miso butter which gets grated over the corn, emulating the Mexican queso fresco. However the miso butter can simply be brushed onto the corn after grilling for an equally delicious outcome.

Recipe + Photography Julia Cauchi, Merci Mama

Grilled Corn with Miso Butter