simple corn soup

a sweet summer soup, inspired by Japanese corn pottage.

why you need to add this soup to your rotation

i’m not the first person to request a soup on the menu, but when i visited tokyo earlier this year with my mom, the hotel we were staying at may have changed my mind. corn potage (コーンポタージュ), or Japanese corn soup, is a popular soup in the summer as it can be enjoyed both warm or cold. it’s thick and creamy, without feeling heavy, and the natural sweetness from the corn makes for a delicious summer treat. it’s so popular in Japan that you can even find cans of it in vending machines! though the hotel breakfast buffet provided more than enough for my morning fix (i had it everyday i was there…).

i found a packet of corn soup from Muji to take home with me, but it didn’t quite live up to my memory of the hotel buffet. with the aquisition of my new blender and fresh corn coming into season at the grocery store, i wanted to try my hand at making it from scratch. my first attempt i actually used coconut milk, as that is all i had on hand at the time. i also added some brie (rind removed) to thicken it up. when i remade it a second time for this blog post, i tried heavy cream in place of brie and found the consistency to be much better haha.

ingredients

• 1 8.25 oz can sweet corn – i would recommend using fresh corn off the cob if you can find it in season!
• 1 medium russet potato (peeled and thinly sliced) – i haven’t tried other types of potatoes for this, so i can only recommend the classic russet! the potato i used was just under a pound in weight.
• 1 tbsp butter – unsalted is preferred. if you only have the salted kind, omit the salt later in the recipe.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 0.5 tbsp sugar – omit if your corn is sweet enough on its own!
• 1 cup water – you can substitute with chicken or vegetable stock for extra flavor, but again, be mindful of the sodium and skip the salt later if it seems too much.
• 200 ml milk – i used cow’s milk for this, but feel free to experiment with other types of milk for dietary preferences.
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 100 ml heavy cream – can be subbed with half and half or more milk
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce – if no fish sauce available, you can sub 1:1 with soy sauce for that umami flavor
• parsley

how-to:

prep work — wash and peel your potato. pat dry and slice in thin pieces. this will make it cook faster on the stove.

cooking — in a pot on medium heat, melt the butter and oil together. add in the potato slices and cook for 7-8 minutes, frequently stirring. once the potatoes are soft, add in corn and sugar and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. pour in water, milk and salt. mix lightly until just combined, then remove from heat. allow to cool for 8-10 minutes, then pour into a blender or food processor. blend until smooth.

pour soup back into pot and turn to medium heat (optional: strain soup through a sieve for extra smoothness!). add in cream cheese, heavy cream and fish sauce. bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat another 2-3 minutes, occasionally stirring.

serve — top with a sprinkle of parsley and enjoy!

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