A beautiful world with a variety of foods and cultures.
Take a walk in the local market. I smiled down every aisle filled with various sellers. Every day is never the same, even though it is similar. There are a lot of ingredients that surprised me. Not always. But if I found that out, then I would not miss the opportunity to buy the ingredient that had surprised me.
Hi, friends, you know what? Getting used to being surprised at the food around us is a good way to be grateful. We become less trivial in every food we can find. It feels it becomes so unfair when we are normal in our daily food, then we are so surprised to see other food that we have never seen before.
Foods that we are used to seeing or that we have never seen before have the right to be considered special by us. That's what my late mom always taught me. I always remember about that.
Back to the ingredients that I bought this time. Purple corn! I have known about this purple corn for a long time, but purple corn is still rare in the local market where I live. In some online sellers, I also provide purple corn but it is quite far from where I live.
Did you guys know about purple corn before? Even though they are both corn, their texture is different. It's hard to describe in English in my opinion. The texture of purple corn after cooking will be more like soft but still has a slightly chewy texture. Meanwhile, the texture of yellow corn is generally not chewy.
Another quite striking difference is that purple corn can be removed from the corn cob with normal hands without it breaking like what happened to yellow corn. I slowly removed the kernels starting from the base of the corn. Oh, it feels really satisfying.
Although it is purple in color, purple corn has a yellow color on the inside when we split the kernels with a knife. I'm amazed by the combination of purple and yellow on the same corn cob. How nature surprises us, always!
Indeed, recently purple corn is quite popular in Indonesia because it is also a substitute for rice for diabetics. Purple corn has a good texture and taste when compared to other rice substitutes such as yam, taro, or even potato.
Purple corn also has a price of 2 times more expensive than yellow corn in general. But I think it's worth buying, also to appreciate the farmers who have planted the purple corn. Also, the tastier texture of purple corn is worth the money.
As a substitute for rice, we can make this purple corn as a meal combined with our favorite vegetables such as broccoli. In this recipe, I also use tempeh as a protein source.
I'll serve them with Teriyaki seasoning. Teriyaki is also known as soy sauce seasoned with garlic and red onion, also pepper powder.
To serve purple corn, we just need to steam them. If steamed, their water content will be more and can change the texture. In many of the videos I watch on youtube, they also recommend steaming the purple corn instead of boiling them.
Teriyaki flavor is always my favorite seasoning. Because it's easy to make with ingredients that are available every day in my kitchen. In a way, I often serve teriyaki sauce as a seasoning for my daily food. To make this teriyaki sauce, we need garlic, red onion, sweet soy sauce, pepper powder, and salt. All of this will produce a balanced mix of savory and sweet flavors.
We only need slices of garlic and shallots. Here, I used 3 cloves of garlic and 3 small cloves of red onion. You can adjust to your taste. Also, add 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and salt. As optional, you can also add sliced red chili or red bell pepper.
Teriyaki sauce is ready to serve with boiled broccoli, fried tempeh, as well as steamed purple corn! Sprinkle them with sesame seeds for an extra texture and flavor.
I didn't expect that at all. These meals are mind-blowing! In particular, the purple corn really surprised me with its soft texture but still a bit chewy on the inside. Sweet but not excessive, and suitable to be combined with teriyaki flavor.
So, what do you think about my dishes for today? Have you ever seen purple corn before? It will be a fun experience if you have the chance to eat purple corn!
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.
Contact Person: [email protected]
Discord: anggreklestari#3009
