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How I cook frozen peas – Garlic Buttered Peas

Nagi — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Make frozen peas fabulous with this recipe for garlic buttered peas! A quick side dish that goes with everything, the peas are sauté-steamed in garlic butter, rather than boiling separately. Easier, tastier, never mushy and so tasty you’ll become known for them.

I tend to shy away from sharing basic recipes like today’s Buttered Peas. Too easily distracted by more exciting-sounding dishes. Pierogis! Crispy chicken burgers! Chocolate cream pie!

Yet, the irony in all this, of course, is that I make these peas a gazillion times more often than I do Basque Cheesecake. A staple side dish, quick to make but totally restaurant-worthy. Though, posh restaurants might pod their own rather than buying frozen. I guess they don’t buy into the whole snap-frozen thing like I do?

Ingredients

I am a bit of a frozen vegetable snob. You’ll never find store-bought frozen broccoli or onion in my freezer. But you will always find peas. Because they are good!

Frozen peas – Cook from FROZEN, not thawed! Well, it’s fine if they are thawed but there is no need to.
Baby vs regular – The recipe works for either. Baby peas (called petite peas in some countries) are slightly sweeter with a slightly softer skin. I am partial to these but won’t hesitate to use regular peas.
Fresh – You could also put me to shame by making this recipe with freshly podded peas.
Butter – For lovely buttery flavour. Substitute with other oil of choice – extra virgin olive oil is my next pick, coconut oil for a tropical / Indian vibe.
Garlic – It just makes everything that much more delicious. Fresh please! Give the jarred stuff a miss – it’s sour and wet so you can’t sauté it properly and the flavour barely resembles the real deal.
Salt and pepper – Seasoning. Peas need it!

How I cook frozen peas

To cook from frozen, just add the tiniest splash of water which helps steam-sauté them faster. The water evaporates by the time the peas are cooked.

Sauté garlic – Melt the butter then sauté the garlic until very light golden in medium heat, around 30 seconds.
Tip the frozen peas in with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of water which creates a steamy environment to cook the peas a little faster. The water evaporates in a few minutes, leaving behind just tasty butter!

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, or until the peas are heated through. Frozen peas are cooked before freezing so they don’t need to be cooked!
Serve – Done and ready to serve! Pour into a bowl or put straight onto dinner plates.
Delicious to eat as is – I challenge you to stop at one spoonful – but suggestions for dressing up are below!

Dress them up

For every day, buttered peas are terrific just as they are. The garlic and butter go a long way to make peas a whole lot more interesting!

But, if you’d like to step it up a notch or just feel like doing something different, here are some suggestions:

Mint them – Toss through finely chopped fresh mint. Mint and peas is a classic! Add however much you want, to your taste.
Lemon – Stir through lemon zest for beautiful lemon flavour, or juice for tang.
Shower of parmesan – As with many things, a mound of freshly grated parmesan will turn this into a show-stopping side!
Clarified / browned butter instead of ordinary butter – for even more intense buttery flavour.
Spice it – Add some curry powder, cumin, coriander, or other spice of choice into the butter, for a touch of extra flavour.
Crunch it – Finish with a big handful of store-bought crispy Asian Fried Shallots or pangrattato (from this recipe), for great texture!

But that’s enough from me. What about you? I know you’ve got a stack of other creative (easy!) ways to dress up a bowl of peas. Share, share! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

How I cook frozen peas – Garlic Buttered Peas

Recipe video above. Make frozen peas fabulous with my recipe for buttered peas! A quick side that goes with everything. Don't boil the peas – cook from frozen in garlic butter. Easier, tastier, bright green, never mushy and never watery!

Course Side

Cuisine Western

Keyword buttered peas, chickpea recipe, pea side dish recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Total Time 10

Servings

Calories 129cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter (or other oil/fat)
2 garlic cloves , finely minced
500g / 1 lb frozen peas (Note 1)
1/2 tsp cooking / kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp water

Instructions

Sauté garlic – Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until light golden.
Cook – Add frozen peas, salt, pepper and water. Turn heat up to medium high and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the water is evaporated, the peas are hot and coated in the tasty garlic butter.
Serve – Tumble into a bowl and serve!

Notes

1. Peas – Baby peas (also called petite peas) are slightly sweeter and slightly more tender skin than regular peas. But by no means do I have a negative thoughts about regular peas!

2. Dress up peas – Finely chopped mint stirred through at the end, a shower of parmesan (oh yes!), lemon zest and/or juice, a pinch of cumin or coriander powder stirred into the butter (or other spices of choice). Fresh herbs of choice, chopped and stirred through at the end. So many options!

3. Leftovers will keep for 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months.

Nutrition per serving assuming 6 servings.

Nutrition

More sides

Pea Puree (side / sauce!)

Pea, Cabbage, Parmesan and Mint Salad

Spring Salad!

Peas

Life of Dozer

Snippet from today’s recipe video!

The post How I cook frozen peas – Garlic Buttered Peas appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Hasselback potatoes

Nagi — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Regular baked spuds are good. Hasselback potatoes are awesome! Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, basted with garlic rosemary olive oil. This is roast potato perfection!

Hasselback potatoes talk

Everybody talks about how tips and tricks to avoid accidentally cutting the way through (easy – chopsticks or spatula on either side of the potato!). Why doesn’t anyone talk about the other things that matter for hasselback success?? Namely:

Fanning is key! For good hasselback potatoes, you need the slices to fan out as they bake so you can drip salty oil/fat between the slices and crispy edges. Without fanning, you end up with regular old roast spuds!
For fanning, you need thin slices (2mm is ideal), to cut down far enough (1cm / 0.4″ from base) and oval shaped potatoes work better than round ones. If you don’t cut down far enough, you will not get fanning! And thick slices don’t fan as well as thin slices (you can see in my photos the thin ones fan out more).
Basting is also key. Baste, baste, baste to encourage fanning (dragging the brush across the surface helps separate the slices) and to drip tasty salted oil between the potato slices.

And with that, let’s get onto what you want to know – how to make great hasselback potatoes!

What you need

You really only need potatoes, oil and salt to make hasselback potatoes. Garlic and rosemary are optional, but they do infuse the oil with lovely flavour that gets brushed onto the potato.

Potato type – All-rounder and floury / starchy potatoes are best. The most common potatoes at regular stores will be fine – they’re stocked because they’re great all-rounders.
Australia – Sebago (the dirt brushed potatoes sold everywhere) are perfect, Desiree are great too. US: Yukon Gold, russet, UK: Maris piper, King Edward.
Waxy potatoes do work, but the cut surface gets kind of slippery which doesn’t really appeal to me.
Potato size and shape – Look for potatoes around 250g/8oz that are a nice even oval shape rather than round. These will fan out better to allow the oil and salt to drip between the slices.
If the potatoes are too small (like baby potatoes) then the inside will get too soft before the edges crisp up. And while in theory, you can make much larger ones, it will be a little harder to get the inside cooked without the edges of the thin slices burning.
Garlic and rosemary are optional. These infuse the oil with a little flavour which is then brushed onto the potatoes. But the flavour is subtle.
Olive oil – You can make hasselback potatoes with any fat, though oils will make the potatoes crisper than butter (because butter contains ~20% water). So if you do want to use some melted butter for brushing, I’d recommend still using olive oil for most of the baking time then use butter towards the end.

The easiest way to cut hasselback potatoes

So here’s a step by step of my easy way to cut hasselback potatoes – by using a spatula or chopsticks which makes it impossible to accidentally cut all the way through. But, as noted above, it’s also important to ensure you cut through enough, to allow the potatoes to fan out. So make sure your spatula / chopstick is no thicker than 1cm / 0.4″!

Stable base – Firstly, cut a thin slice off the base so the potato will sit flat and stable.
Cutting guide – Place the potato between the hands of 2 spatulas or chopsticks (or similar), no thicker than 1cm / 0.4″.
In action! See? See how the spatula stops the knife from cutting all the way through? Perfect!
Slice THINLY – Aim for 2mm slices. Thin slices = fans out when baking = crispy edges and getting oil / salt between the slices! (Cutting through far enough is also key to this).
Hasselbacked – Here it is! Run your fingers across the surface and admire your handiwork!

Wonky cuts? Accidentally cut all the way through? Who cares! It’s still going to be delicious – and still going to trump regular plain boring roast spuds.

Baking hasselback potatoes

Cutting part done – time to bake. This part is easy, but the basting steps are critical!

Rub with a little oil (just 1 1/2 teaspoons shared between all 5) then salt. Not much at this stage!
Bake 1 – Bake at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan) for 30 minutes. This first bake is to get the potato slices to start opening up so we can get salt and oil in between.
Oil & salt – Then pour 1/4 cup olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with salt. Only so much will fall between the slices at this stage, we will coax more flavour in when we baste!
Bake 2 – Return to the oven with the garlic and the rosemary for a further 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through, basting with the oil on the tray every 10 minutes (see below). The bake time will be shorter if you use smaller potatoes (I use 250g/8oz).

Basting – For the basting, squidge a brush into the oil on the tray.
Brush with intention! Then drag the brush across the surface of the potato, using a little pressure to coax the potato slices apart so salty oil drips down between the slices. Basting is key for hasselback awesomeness, so don’t shortcut this step!

Golden crispness! Crank up the oven to 220°C/425°F (200°C). Then return the potatoes into the oven or a further 10 to 15 minutes to make them extra golden and crispy on the edges.
Sprinkle with a little salt flakes if you want (I want!) then devour while hot and crispy.

And with that, I have imparted all my hasselback making learnings to you.

Serve while hot and crispy, with a sprinkle of salt flakes and some fresh rosemary sprigs for decoration, if so desired. And while leftovers will keep for a few days, there really is nothing like hasselbacks fresh out of the oven! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Accidentally threw the garlic and rosemary onto the tray at the beginning instead of partway through! Best to add at the 30 minute mark, otherwise they get very, very toasted. (aka. burnt)

Hasselback potatoes

Recipe video above. Soft on the inside and crispy on the edges, brushed with garlic rosemary olive oil! Hasselback success relies on thin slices so they fan out as they bake, allowing oil and salt to drip in between with crispy edges. Otherwise, they end up like regular roast spuds!

Making sure you cut through enough and using oval shaped spuds also help to ensure they fan out properly.

Worried about your knife skills? Don't! So what if your slices are irregular or a little too thick? Wonky hasselbacks still trump regular roast spuds every day of the week.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine swedish, Western

Keyword hasselback potatoes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 20

Servings – 6

Author Nagi

Ingredients

5 – 6 x 250g / 8oz potatoes , oval shaped regular or floury, scrubbed clean (Aus: Sebago (dirt brushed), desiree, US: Yukon Gold, russet, UK: Maris piper, King Edward, Note 1)
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

Basting:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (Note 2)
4 garlic cloves , skin on, smashed (optional) (Note 3)
3 rosemary sprigs (optional but recommended) (Note 3)

Instructions

Shortform recipe:

Hasselback slice 2mm thick. Rub/sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp oil and 1/4 tsp salt.
Bake 200°C/400°F (180°C fan) for 30 min. Pour over oil, sprinkle with salt, throw garlic and rosemary on tray. Bake further 40 min, basting generously every 10 min (getting oil between slices key), until cooked. Crank up to 220°C/425°F (200°C fan), baste, bake 10 – 15 min until extra golden.

Full recipe:

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced).
Cut prep – Cut a thin slice off the base of a potato to make it sit flat while cutting. Place the potato between 2 wooden spatulas or chopsticks (no thicker than 1cm / 0.4" – Note 4), to make it impossible for you to accidentally cut all the way through!
THIN slices – Cut the potato into very thin slices, aiming for 2 mm. The cuts on the edges of the potato can be slightly thicker as the edges bake up crisper. (Note 4 for tips)
Rub – Drizzle each potato the 1 1/2 tsp oil then sprinkle/rub with the 1/4 tsp salt (ie share across all).

Baking:

Bake 1 – Place the potatoes on a tray. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven.
Baste 1 – The potato slices should be slightly less "stuck" together at this stage. Pour the 1/4 cup olive oil over the potatoes then sprinkle the salt evenly over. The salt gets spread later, so don't worry if it looks like a lot! Throw the garlic and rosemary on the tray.
Baking/basting – Bake the potatoes for another 40 minutes, basting with the oil on the tray every 10 minutes. Brush with a bit of pressure across the surface of the potatoes to encourage the oil and salt to drip down. Once oil gets between the slices, they will fan out more and more.
CRISP IT! – Once the potatoes are soft in the centre (check with knife), turn the oven UP to 220°C/425°F (200°C). Baste the potatoes again then bake for a further 10 – 15 minutes until the edges are nice and golden. I am quite bold with this step, many others do not seek as much crispy edges.
Serve immediately while hot and the edges are crispy! Peeling off those end bits are the BEST.

Notes

1. Potatoes – All-rounder and floury / starchy potatoes are best. The most common potatoes at regular stores will be fine – they’re stocked because they’re great all-rounders. Oval shape fans out better than round ones.

Australia – Sebago (the dirt brushed potatoes sold everywhere) are perfect, Desiree are great too. US: Yukon Gold, russet, UK: Maris piper, King Edward.

2. Salt – it will look like a lot when you sprinkle but it gets spread when basting, all over the potato and between the slices.

3. Smash garlic by putting side of knife against it and hitting with palm of hand to make it burst open but mostly hold together. Releases garlic flavour into oil without ending up with lots of burnt black bits.

No herbs? Still worth making as the flavour is subtle. Thyme or sage would also work well. But, use fresh! Little bits of dry herbs will just burn.

4. Hasselback success relies on thin slices so they fan out more as they bake so salty oil drips down between the slices and you get crispy edges. Ensuring you cut through enough also factors into this (hence why I say the spatula / chopstick should not be thicker than 1cm / 0.4″).

But don’t fret if you are struggling! You can coax them open when basting – just apply a little pressure as you brush across the top and it will coax them open slightly. Last resort – use a butter knife to pry them open. Once a little oil gets between two slices of potato, it prevents them from sticking together again.

5. Leftovers will keep for 3 days but they will not be like the golden crispy masterpiece that you pulled hot out of the oven.

6. Nutrition per serving, takes into account an estimation of the oil remaining on the tray.

Life of Dozer

12 month anniversary of Dinner. What a ride it’s been! Thank you for being a part of it. None of this would have been possible without you! – Nagi & Dozer x

(PS Yes that’s a smear of flour on the side of my face. OF COURSE.)

And the only thing Dozer cares about is whether there’s anything edible in this enormous, most obnoxious bunch of flowers my publisher Pan Macmillan sent me to celebrate the day!!

The post Hasselback potatoes appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chili and Feta

Nagi — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 16:00:00 +0000

How to make roasted pumpkin so much more fabulous with very little effort? A dash of maple syrup for extra caramelisation. Kick of fresh chilli. Plus a sprinkle of feta and shower of walnuts! Serve as a side, a meal, pile on toast or crostini. It’s delicious any which way!

Maple roasted pumpkin with feta and chilli

Something magical happens to pumpkin when you roast it. It intensifies the sweetness and caramelises beautifully.

I’d happily eat it plain. But here, we step it up a notch with a few simple additions that work so well with pumpkin. A dash of maple syrup for extra caramelisation. Plus a hit of fresh chilli, soft nutty crunchy of walnuts and creamy pops of salty feta…..you know this is going to be good!

That’s dinner, right there. Or a mighty delicious side.

Ingredient you need

Here’s what you need to make this.

The roasting stuff

Pumpkin – Any eating pumpkin. I typically use Kent or Jap which are common varieties here in Australia. Do not use pumpkin intended for Halloween carving, it’s not very pleasant to eat.
Alternatives – Butternut pumpkin (called butternut squash in the States) or sweet potato!
Maple syrup – or honey.
Dried chilli flakes – also called red pepper flakes. I use the regular type you get from ordinary grocery stores but you could absolutely use Asian or other types of chilli flakes. Just be mindful of spiciness!
Red onion – substitute regular onion, eschalots (US: shallots) or the white part of green onions (I often have bunches in the fridge with the green parts unceremoniously hacked off for garnish purposes so am always looking for uses of the white part).
Walnuts – Or other nuts of choice. Almonds and pecans come to mind first. Pinenuts, pepitas and other small nuts/seeds would also work but I’d toss them in partway through cooking so they don’t burn into tiny little black (bitter) pellets.

Finishes

Chilli – This is optional because it’s more for visual than spiciness, because we get enough spiciness from the dried chilli flakes. Large chillis, like the cayenne pepper pictured, aren’t very spicy. Good life rule to remember: the larger the chilli, the less spicy it is!
Danish feta – This is the feta type that is a bit more creamy than Greek feta. Greek feta also works, though I do like the way Danish feta sort of smears as it semi-melts on contact with the hot pumpkin.
If you are making to really impress, go premium by using goats cheese!
Parsley – For pretty green finish.

How to make Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chilli and Feta

This is a recipe that’s more about the finishes. The pumpkin is roasted with onion and walnuts, all tossed with maple syrup. Then once cooked, sprinkle with feta, red chilli and parsley. Then get stuck in!

Cut the pumpkin in 2.5cm / 1″ cubes. To do this I cut into 2.5cm / 1″ slices first. Using a rocking motion as you slice down helps make this easy.
Cut the skin off.
Then cut into cubes.
Pile onto a large paper lined tray with the onion slices and walnuts. Toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and chilli flakes then spread it out. The more space between the pumpkin, the better. If the pumpkin is too cluttered, it will stew and go mushy instead of caramelising.

Roast for 30 minutes, tossing once at the 20 minute mark, until the pumpkin is light golden and cooked through. You won’t get intense golden colour on the surface, not like plain roast pumpkin cubes (such as in this recipe), because the maple syrup will burn on the edges of the cubes before the surface goes completely golden.
Also, the onion will get quite dark brown. If you notice at the tossing point that it’s getting a little too brown, just push/pile them all together or bury under pumpkin. This will protect them!
Finishing – Give the pumpkin a gently toss to coat it in all the tasty tray juices. Then transfer to a serving platter – single layer is nice for even sprinkling coverage and neat presentation. Sprinkle with fresh chilli, feta and parsley, then serve!

Or – jumble and pile

I know I said a single layer presentation looks nice and neat. But actually, for maximum flavour-melding-more-rustic presentation (aka Nagi style), do most of the sprinkling on the tray, reserving some for garnish. Then transfer into a serving bowl. Flavour jumbling will occur during transfer and piling.

Finish with reserved feta etc to pretty it up.

Whichever way you go, single layer neatness or jumbled piled up rustic-ness, it still rates the same on the deliciousness scale. Which is, in case you hadn’t guessed, very, very high.

Tell me if you serve this as a side or inhale it as a meal! – Nagi x

PS In case you didn’t know I have a whole category of pumpkin side dishes as part of the vegetable and salad side dishes corner of this website! Mostly relatively low effort, like this one, with a scattering of show-offs for special occasions.

PPS This is not the first time I’ve combined pumpkin. See also here and here.

Watch how to make it

Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chili and Feta

Recipe video above. A seriously delicious, low-effort way to serve roast pumpkin: with a dash of maple syrup for extra caramelisation, a kick of chilli, warm crunch of walnuts and salty pops of creamy feta.

Serves 3 as a main or 6 as a side. I made this with pumpkin but it is just as delicious made with squash or sweet potato!

Course Roasted, Vegetables

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings – 6

Calories 165cal

Author Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

2 lb / 1 kg pumpkin , peeled, cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes (whole, unpeeled weight – Note 1)
1 red onion , peeled, halved, then cut into 1cm / 0.4" wedges
1/2 cup walnuts , roughly chopped (Note 2)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp maple syrup or honey (sub brown sugar Note 3),
3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
1 – 1 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes , adjust to taste (Note 4)

Garnishes (Optional)

3/4 cup Danish feta (or Greek feta, or upgrade to goats cheese)
1 large red chilli (cayenne pepper), deseeded, finely minced
1 tbsp parsley finely chopped

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced).
Toss – Place the pumpkin, onion and walnuts on a large, paper lined tray. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup, then toss to coat (hands really is best). Sprinkle with chilli and salt, toss again, then spread out on a tray. Don't crowd them else they will stew instead of roast!
Roast for 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is lightly browned and cooked through, tossing once at the 20 minute mark.
Finishes – Remove from the oven. Gently toss again, then transfer to a serving platter in a single layer. Crumble over feta, sprinkle with parsley and chilli. Or do the sprinkling on the tray then pile into a bowl. Serve immediately!

Notes

1. Pumpkin – Any type for eating is suitable (not Halloween carving). Or butternut or sweet potato!

2. Nuts- Feel free to use other nuts. Large ones similar size to walnuts will take the same time. If using pine nuts, sunflower seeds or pepitas (or other small nuts), add them halfway through the roasting time.

3. Brown sugar sub – Mix with olive oil then toss to coat.

4. Chilli flakes – 1 1/2 tsp has a decent warm, unmissable hum but not super spicy. 1 tsp is more subtle. Feel free to skip it!

5. Leftovers will keep for 3 days.

Nutrition assuming 6 servings.

Nutrition

Serving: 214g | Calories: 165cal

Recipe update: This is an old recipe from 2015 that was in desperate need of spruced up photos, a recipe video tutorial and most importantly, recipe improvements! The same recipe, just tweaked to fix.

More delicious things to make with pumpkin

Roasted Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce and Pine Nuts

Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad

Pumpkin Soup

Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup

Honey-Cinnamon Pumpkin Lentil Salad

Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin

Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto

Pumpkin recipes

Life of Dozer

Don’t miss Dozer in today’s recipe video!! Did he get to taste test….??

The post Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chili and Feta appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Miso Butter Corn

Nagi — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Miso Butter Corn is a recipe that proves simple can be amazing! The magic of a dab of miso. This sautéed corn is a side dish that goes with everything, from chicken rissoles to gyoza. Or make a meal out of it with a fried egg, avocado and tortillas for stuffing.

Miso butter corn

The world has David Chang to thank for the miracle that is sautéed corn with miso and butter. He wasn’t the first to make it but he was certainly the one who made it famous! In fact, it was so wildly popular at his New York restaurant that he took it off the menu because he became known as the corn restaurant that happened to serve noodles!

Miso, in case you are new to it, is a soy bean paste that is probably best known as the base for miso soup (here’s my mum’s recipe). A ton of savoury flavour packed into one innocent looking tub (jar/packet). However, because it’s such a powerful ingredient, it is used for so many other dishes, for both Japanese and Western dishes.

Today’s miso corn is a great example. A fusion Asian dish starring miso – err, yes, and corn!

Miso + butter = Miso butter = good stuff!

Ingredients in Miso Butter Sautéed Corn

Here’s what you need to make this. Not many ingredients!

Miso butter and other ingredients

Miso – There are all sorts of miso varieties, find one labelled “white miso” or “shiro miso” (“shiro” means “white” in Japanese). Red miso is also fine but use a little less – about 1 heaped tablespoon (miso flavour is a little more intense). (PS My mum has a great little summary on different types of miso in her Miso Soup recipe).
Bacon – Streaky is the best because we use the bacon fat to cook the corn. It’s what makes this dish so good!
Butter – Unsalted, this dish has enough salt from the bacon and miso. If you only have salted, dial back the miso slightly.
Garlic – Because I don’t cook corn without it if butter is also present.
Cooking sake – One of the 3 essential sauces in Japanese cooking, it’s a rice wine made for cooking that you can find in the Asian section of grocery stores these days. It’s used to deglaze the pan after cooking the corn (a cooking term which means to use a liquid to dissolve golden bits stuck on the base of the pan to mix into the sauce) and it adds a touch of extra savouriness into this dish. The alcohol cooks out because it evaporates.
Substitute with mirin or Chinese cooking wine, or water (we just want some liquid to deglaze the pan).
Green onion – For freshness. Cut it a little chunkier than the typical “finely sliced” that is often called for in recipes. We want a decent hit because it’s the freshness here.
White pepper – I use white because it’s habit in Japanese recipes. (Just because this recipe has a touch of miso in it, my brain thinks I’m in the Japanese food cooking sphere). But black pepper is fine too.

Also – Corn!

Yes, we need corn! 😂 Using corn fresh cut off the cob is best because it’s dry so it sautés better for lovely golden spots. Also, flavour (sweeter, better) and texture (firmer, not soggy).

Frozen corn is the next best alternative – use it from frozen but expect to cook longer (thaw>dry>cook) with canned bringing up the rear (it’s the wettest so it doesn’t sauté as well).

Here’s how I cut the corn off the cob without the kernels flying all over the kitchen – large bowl, prop the corn up on a little dish, small knife.

How to cook Miso Butter Corn

This recipe starts by sautéing bacon so the corn can be cooked in the bacon fat for extra tastiness! Then the miso butter is just stirred through at the end until it melts through.

Cut corn off the cob – As mentioned above, prop the corn up on a small ramekin or similar inside a large bowl. Stand upright and cut the kernels off using a small knife. The bowl will catch the kernels so they don’t fly all over your kitchen! A bundt pan also works.
Miso butter – Mix the miso and softened butter until combined.
Cook bacon in its own fat until golden. The fat in the bacon will melt as the pan heats up, so start with a cold pan. No extra oil needed – as long as you use streaky bacon!
Bacon fat – Remove the bacon using a slotted spoon so you keep as much bacon fat in the pan as possible. Then add the corn.

Cook the corn for 4 to 5 minutes until there’s light golden spots, and the corn is sweet and cooked through. (Fresh corn is firmer than frozen and canned corn). To do this, just stir every minute rather than stirring constantly. This gives the corn a chance to get the golden spots.
Add garlic towards the end of the cooking time, else it will burn!
Deglaze – Add the cooking sake and stir until it evaporates. We only use 2 tablespoons so it will evaporate quickly, about 15 seconds or so. The purpose of this step (called deglazing) is to dissolve the golden bits on the base of the pan left from sautéing the corn into the mixture. Those golden bits are called fond and it’s free flavour!
Miso butter – Turn off the stove then stir to melt the miso butter through the corn. We don’t want to sizzle the butter because the miso caramelises quite easily. We want glossy silk buttery sauce through our corn!
Toss the bacon and green onion in, then serve!

Matters of serving

I love how versatile this dish is.

It’s a corn side dish packed with so much flavour that you will happily eat it by the spoonful. Who cares what the main dish is, just gimme all the Miso Butter Corn!

As mentioned earlier, despite the miso in it, this doesn’t taste Japanese or Asian. It’s universally tasty and the flavour profile is such that I wouldn’t hesitate to serve it alongside a pile of Crispy Herb Roasted Chicken with gravy or a Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Mustard Sauce. But then, it’s just at home with Asian mains like Chinese Char Sui BBQ Pork, a big plate of gyoza or Grilled Marinated Thai Chicken (Gai Yang).

But my favourite is to turn it into a meal by adding a fried egg, burst roast cherry tomatoes (10 minutes in the oven), avocado and tortillas for scooping/stuffing.

Breakfast, dinner, lunch, any day of the week.

Yes please!

But don’t worry about how I eat it. Tell me how you’d serve this and what you’d serve it with! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Miso butter corn

Recipe video above. Simple yet ridiculously delicious corn side dish. Just a dollop of miso adds great savoury flavour! Adapted from the David Chang's famous Momofuku Roasted Summer Corn recipe! (Found his a little salty so I dialled back a bit).

It doesn't taste Japanese or Asian at all, you can barely taste the miso, so it's a great side for Asian and Western mains. But my favourite way to eat this is in bowls with a fried egg and avocado, or stuffed into corn tortillas. YES!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine asian fusioin

Keyword miso butter corn, sauteed corn

Servings

Calories 326cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Miso butter:

30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
1 1/2 tbsp white miso (shiro miso) (Note 1)

Corn:

200g / 7oz streaky bacon , chopped into 1cm / 1/2″ pieces
3 cups corn kernels , preferably freshly cut off 3 – 4 corn cobs else frozen thawed (Note 2)
2 garlic cloves , finely minced
2 tbsp cooking sake , optional (sub mirin or dry sherry, Note 3)
1/8 tsp white pepper (sub black pepper)
1 cup green onion , cut into 0.5cm/0.2″ slices

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Miso butter – Mix butter and miso together in a small bowl until combined.
Golden bacon – Put bacon in an unheated large non stick pan, no oil. Turn the stove onto medium high heat – as it heats up, the fat will start to melt so the bacon cooks in its own fat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until golden, then use a slotted spoon to transfer onto a paper towel lined plate. Reserve bacon fat in the pan.
Cook corn – Top up with butter if you don’t have 1 tbsp fat left in pan. Still on medium high, add corn, then stir only every minute or so (this lets it get some nice golden spots), for about 5 minutes until corn is just cooked and is sweet. Add garlic, stir for another 30 seconds. Add sake, stir until evaporated (~15 seconds).
Melt miso butter – Turn off stove. Add miso butter, stir until melted. Add pepper, bacon and green onion, toss until coated with sauce. Serve!
Serve as a side dish. In a corn taco with a fried egg and avocado (OMG SO GOOD).

Notes

1. Miso – There are all sorts of miso varieties, find one labelled “white miso” or “shiro miso” (“shiro” means “white” in Japanese). Red miso is also fine but use a little less – about 1 heaped tablespoon (miso flavour is a little more intense).

2. Corn – Fresh cut is best because it’s dry so sautés better. Frozen thawed works too, expect to cook a little longer (needs time to thaw/dry/cook). Canned corn does work but because it’s so wet, it just doesn’t get little golden patches as well.

3. Cooking sake – One of the 3 essential sauces in Japanese cooking, you can find it in the Asian section of grocery stores these days. Adds touch of extra savouriness into this dish. Alcohol cooks out because it evaporates. Sub with mirin or Chinese cooking wine, or water (we just want some liquid to deglaze the pan).

4. Recipe credit – Adapted from David Chang’s famous Roasted Summer Corn with Miso Butter. I found his recipe a little salty so I reduced the miso and skipped the chicken stock.

5. Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days. It will freeze ok too!

Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings as a side.

Nutrition

Life of Dozer

Summer has arrived early here in Sydney! (Also a good Dozer size-context photo. BIG!)

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