food comas

When my chef friend Kei sent me this recipe, I immediately asked him: “What the %&*# are you having me cook?”  Every time Kei sends me a new recipe, I feel like I am studying a new language as I am constantly looking up the definitions of every term, dish, and technique he details.  I had no idea what velouté was, what it should taste or look like… or how to even pronounce it.  So like many of the “courtesy of Kei Kurobe” recipes, I was flying a bit blind here… but I *think* it turned out how it is supposed to be.  It tasted quite good according to my test subjects (parents + Natalya) so that is my success measure.

The term “velouté” is from the French adjectival form of velour, meaning “velvety.”  In cooking, velouté is a stock that is made by boiling down ham, veal, beef, fowl, bouillon, etc.  Once the meat is boiled down, you typically add soup stock, seasoning, vegetables, and thicken it by boiling again, and then lastly straining the mixture.  This is a refreshing summer version of velouté that uses corn as its base.  Once you get over the language barrier, this is a very easy recipe to follow.

This soup goes well with almost anything: scallops, roasted corn kernels, or a smoky meat such as bacon, pancetta or chorizo.  Some recipes call for pancetta to be cooked with the onion, and thus blended with the entire mixture before straining.  However, I made the velouté as detailed below, and then added bits of crispy pancetta when serving, which I thought was delicious because the freshly fried pancetta retained its distinct smoky flavor separate from the chilled corn velvet taste.  I also added Roasted Corn Kernels to enhance the corn flavor.

For an entire dish, I made Seared Scallops with a Chilled Corn Velouté, which included fried pancetta, roasted corn kernels, and leafy baby greens for garnish.

Chilled Corn Velouté (courtesy of Kei Kurobe)

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 whole sweet yellow/white corn
• 4 T butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, julienned
• 1 gallon water
• 1 T salt
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Peel all husks off the corn and discard.  Clean corn cobs under cold water.

On a large sheet tray place a small bowl upside down so the bottom of the bowl is facing you. Place the corn cob on the bowl and cut all kernels off with a knife.

After all cobs are cleaned of their kernels, set the cobs aside for later.

In a large pot over medium heat, add butter and onions.  Sweat the onions until translucent, and then add the corn kernels.  Sweat both ingredients until they have been sauteed, and then add 1 T of salt.

Add 1 gallon of water to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and add the corn cobs to the pot, which will help fortify the soup.  Cook on simmer for about 1-1.5 hours.

Discard the cobs and blend mixture and strain through a fine mesh strainer.

Chill and enjoy!!

Try serving this soup with Roasted Corn Kernels and fried pancetta (dice and fry in oil for a minute).  Just drop these yummy extras in the soup and enjoy!