There are so many beautiful ingredients that I'm always interested in exploring. Indeed, many culinary creations are about taste and habit. How family traditions shape our tastes, and what we cook and eat.
Regarding main meals, in Indonesia, we're accustomed to eating rice. We say we haven't eaten if we haven't had rice, even if we've already consumed other carbohydrate-rich ingredients. Actually, this habit is bad because it can indirectly impact the increase in diabetes in our country. For example, people like to eat noodles with rice, or eat potatoes with rice.
Well, because my late mother had diabetes, which I inherited from my grandmother, I've had to really make it a lifestyle change. So now my husband and I are reducing carbs, especially rice.
I'm also used to replacing rice with other carbohydrates that have a lower glycemic index.
One ingredient that's caught my attention lately is corn rice. Corn rice is cooked the same way we cook rice. Of course, lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts about people eating corn rice. That makes me even more excited to try something new.
In this recipe, I'll combine corn rice with my favorite vegetables: broccoli and Chinese cabbage. Of course, you can combine this corn rice with other vegetables you have in your kitchen.
Also, in this recipe, I'm using tomato flavor. And chilies. But the chilies aren't essential; they're just a matter of personal preference. I added chilies because my husband can't eat without them.
The corn that will be cooked is in the form of grains similar to rice grains. But not fine grains. This coarse grain texture will give the final corn rice a nice texture and prevent it from becoming mush.
If you want, you can soak the corn grains first. But it's not necessary. If you use a rice cooker, you can cook corn rice well. However, if you're using a regular pot, I recommend soaking the corn grains first. This is to save cooking time so the corn kernels soften and cook more quickly.
I decided to soak the corn kernels first. I soaked them for about an hour.
After soaking, I washed the corn kernels several times until the water was clearer than before.
While waiting for my rice kernels to be ready to cook after soaking, I prepared the other ingredients.
I cut the tempeh into smaller pieces. You can use other shapes, as long as the tempeh isn't too large to cook, or you can adjust the shape to your own taste.
Let's cook the corn rice. I cooked the soaked and washed corn kernels.
While the corn rice was cooking, I prepared the other ingredients.
Then I made the tomato sauce. I boiled the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and chilies for 5 minutes.
Then I ground them with my traditional wooden mortar and pestle. The tomato sauce is now ready to be cooked with the other ingredients.
Stir well, add a little water to prevent burning, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and sugar, then turn off the heat.
When just cooked, the corn rice will look soft and slightly watery. That's why we have to stir the corn rice and let it cool down a bit so the texture isn't too mushy.
Serve the corn rice with side dishes. Honestly, after tasting this combination of corn rice and vegetables, it's actually similar to rice because it's completely flavorless.
This corn rice isn't sweet because it uses a less sweet variety of corn and is also made from older corn, so it's not sweet.
I also found that this corn rice fills me up quickly. So, this is a great recommendation for those of you trying to control your diet.
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
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