While my local supermarkets’ shelves are slowly filling up with pumpkin and squashes of all stripes, I am still drawn to fresh corn that is in season here until end of October. I made this delicious Mexican corn soup last week and it was too good not to share.
This Mexican corn soup is simple yet delicious and nutritious and inspired by Mexican flavours, of course. Aside from plenty of corn, it features charred cherry tomatoes, coriander, cumin, chilli and lime. I made it using corn on the cob as we are still in the middle of the season, but frozen corn or tinned corn will also work.
I kick things off by roasting the corn and cherry tomatoes in an oven while I sauté onion, garlic and chilli in the pot. If you wanted a more hands off approach, you could whack those three aromatics into the oven too. Once the oven has done its magic, I cut the kernels off the cobs and put half of them into the pot and save the other half for serving – unlike a baby, I like my food to have a bit of texture 😉 .
I then add the cobs into the pot, alongside some water and a veggie stock cube and simmer the lot for a bit to create a corn-infused stock for my soup. The final thing to do is to blend the soup well and season it to taste and that’s it. It makes four generous portions and freezes well too. It’s sweet and smoky with a little bit of lime juice cutting through.
Like most soups and stews, this Mexican corn soup benefits from being made in advance as that way the flavours have a chance to develop and the overall flavour improves immeasurably so I recommend I recommend making it a day in advance if you can. This Mexican corn soup has been a hit in our house so I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
And if you like the idea of a corn soup but prefer other flavours instead, here are other corn soups I made in the past.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
CORN: I used fresh corn on the cob to make this corn soup as it’s still the corn season over here, but you can use frozen (defrosted) or canned corn kernels instead. If doing that, I recommend getting rid of any moisture by blotting the kernels on paper towels, coating in a bit of oil and charring it in a 220° C / 425° F oven for about 30 minutes.
TOMATOES: I used a punnet of cherry tomatoes to add acidity to this corn soup. I wanted to intensify their flavour so I roasted them in a high oven until jammy on the inside and lightly charred on the inside. If you don’t want to use fresh tomatoes, you can use a can of quality cherry or plum tomatoes and cook them down after your aromatics are sautéed.
CORIANDER: Coriander (called cilantro in the US) is most often bought for its leaves but the stalks hold so much flavour. This soup is a coriander stalk busting soup, add a good handful of finely chopped stalks in with garlic and chilli for a fresh, herbaceous flavour.
AROMATICS: The base of this corn soup is a trio of aromatics: onion, garlic and a medium hot red chilli. You can adjust the type and amount of chilli used to your personal preference. I wanted the soup to have a subtle kick.
STOCK CUBE: A stock cube is an inexpensive flavour booster for your soup and it saves you on chopping and washing up. You can of course use a homemade stock (the soup will be all the better for it) but a good veggie stock cube does the job just fine.
DRY SPICES: I used whole coriander and cumin to flavour this soup as well as some ground smoked paprika. Whole spices are so much more fragrant than ground, but they need a little more process. To get the best flavour out of whole spices you want to toast them gently in a dry frying pan and then crush them finely in a pestle and mortar. If that’s too much work, you can obviously use dried spices too.
LIME: Corn is naturally sweet and even though I used some tomatoes in this soup to inject a bit of acidity, I find that a tablespoon or so (depending on how acidic your tomatoes are) finishes this soup off nicely. Use as little or as much as you like.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) CHAR THE VEGGIES
Typically, I would char my corn on a griddle pan but since I had both tomatoes and corn to do, I whacked them all into the oven instead. It’s a nice hands-off method, which saves you from a smoky kitchen and having to remember to turn the corn every five minutes or so.
2) SAUTE THE AROMATICS
While your corns and tomatoes are charring in the oven, saute your aromatics in a heavy base pan. Dice them all very finely and fry in a generous amount of oil until translucent. I like to start off with just onion as it takes the most time. Once the onion is almost down, I add both chilli and garlic. When they are almost ready, I’ll add coriander stalks and spices. If you wanted a more hands-off approach, you could add chilli, garlic and onion into the oven too but that would probably mean that you need to do the roasting in two batches.
3) MAKE STOCK
Once my aromatics are done, add shaved cobs and approximately a third of the corn kernels to the pot with a stock cube and plenty of water. Season generously and allow the whole thing to simmer for about 45 minutes to get a delicious corn-infused stock.
4) BLEND
Remove and discard the cobs and transfer the rest of the soup to a blender, alongside charred tomatoes, and blend until smooth.
6) SEASON AND SERVE
Return the soup to a pot alongside the remaining corn kernels. Heat everything up gently, season with salt and lime juice to balance the sweetness. Divide between bowls or cool and save for the next day (it will taste even better).
INGREDIENTS
SOUP
- 2 tsp whole coriander or 1 tbsp ground
- 2 tsp whole cumin or 1 tbsp ground
- 8 corns on the cob OR 800 g / 8 cups of corn kernels*
- 400 g / 14 oz fresh cherry tomatoes*
- 60 ml / 4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1 medium hot chilli, diced
- small bunch of coriander/cilantro
- 2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
- 1 veggie stock cube
- lime juice, to taste
METHOD
- Pre-heat the oven to 220° C / 425° F and line a baking tray with a piece baking paper.
- If using whole spices (which I recommend), toast them in a small frying pan until fragrant, then grind finely in a pestle and mortar.
- Coat cherry tomatoes and corn in olive olive, season with salt and and bake for about 30 minutes, until tomato skins are charred and corn is cooked.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pot. Add diced onion and sauté until translucent, then add in garlic, chilli (deseeded for less heat), a handful of finely chopped coriander stalks and a generous pinch of salt.
- Carry on sautéing until garlic is translucent. Mix in all of the dry spices and sauté for another minute.
- Cut the kernels off the cobs and put two thirds into the pot, alongside all of the cobs, charred cherry tomatoes and 6 cups (1500 ml) of water and a generous amount of salt. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering for about 45 minutes.
- Discard the cobs then transfer the soup to a blender and blend until super smooth.
- Transfer back to the pot alongside the remaining corn kernels. Add another 2 cups (500 ml) of water or plant milk if you want a creamier end result. Season well with salt and lime juice. Warm up to serve or cool down and refrigerate (or freeze) for later.
NOTES
*CORN: an average cob of corn equals about 1 cup of shaved kernels or 125-150 g of kernels. You can use frozen (defrosted) or canned corn instead. I recommend blotting it well, coating in a little olive oil and charring it either in a hot skillet or in the hot oven for better flavour. You may need to do it in batches.
*CHERRY TOMATOES: I used fresh cherry tomatoes, which I charred in the oven to deepen their flavour, but you can use a can of quality cherry or plum tomatoes and cook them down after your aromatics are sautéed.