Fire-Roasted Corn in Miso Butter (Grilled Corn on the Cob)
We finally made it to Ashland, Oregon. The place we're staying at is fantastic and has a large barbecue grill. I decided to take advantage of it and grill fresh corn while the family was having fun in the swimming pool.
Instead of seasoning the corn with regular salt, I used white miso paste, which is a fermented rice and soybean combination. I chose white miso paste which is fermented for only a few weeks, as opposed to regular miso which is fermented for several months. I find the flavor to be less salty, with a subtle sweetness. Of course, if you don't have miso paste on hand, you could always use regular salt, but what would be the fun in that?
Ingredients
Yields: 8 servings
8 corn ears4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white miso paste
juice of 1 lemon
Directions
In a bowl, combine the softened butter, miso paste and olive oil. Mix well.
Husk the corn ears. Brush the corn with the miso mixture, using a silicone brush.
Place the corn directly on the hot grill. Cook over medium heat until you get grill marks (about 2 minutes on all sides), turning the corn frequently (count every minute for even cooking) and brushing frequently with more miso mixture. The corn niblets should blacken slightly. Remove from the grill. Drizzle with lemon juice.
Let cool a little.
Bon appétit!
Tips
If you have left-overs, you could use a sharp chef's knife to cut the corn kernels off the cob and make a corn salad.
Miso paste (shiro miso) is a great source of protein for a vegetarian diet. It's less salty than regular miso. Don't be frightened by the size of miso containers sold in markets. Miso paste stores well in the refrigerator and you can make other dishes with it such as Asian salad dressing, other soup broths and vegetarian gravy.
