Milho Verde Cozido na Espiga

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 4-liter pot with lid
• •Tongs
• •Small knife for checking tenderness

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the corn

   Peel back a little of the husk before buying if you can. Look for full, shiny kernels packed tightly in straight rows, and press one with your nail: it should release a milky juice. That's green corn worth cooking. Dry, dented kernels mean old corn, and no amount of butter will make it young again.

   Cook this when corn is actually good, usually when it's cheap, local, and everywhere at the market. Want it out of season? I won't stop you. Just don't blame the recipe for tired corn.
2. 2

   Clean the ears

   Pull off the husks and as much silk as you can with your hands. Rinse the ears under running water, rubbing lightly between the rows. Clean corn cooks more evenly, and nobody wants to fight silk threads while butter is dripping down their fingers.

3. 3

   Salt the water

   Put the water in a wide 4-liter pot and stir in the tablespoon of salt. Bring it to a lively boil. The water should taste lightly salty, not like the sea. This seasons the corn from the outside while it cooks, instead of leaving all the work to the butter at the end.

4. 4

   Boil until tender

   Lower the corn into the boiling water, cover the pot, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fresh the ears are. Start checking at 10 minutes: pierce a kernel with the tip of a small knife or bite one carefully. It should be tender, juicy, and still a little snappy. If it tastes starchy and hard, give it a few more minutes. If you cook it forever, the kernels get dull and tired.

5. 5

   Butter while hot

   Lift the corn out with tongs and let the water drip back into the pot for a few seconds. While the ears are still very hot, spread the softened butter over them and roll each one so the kernels turn glossy. Hot corn melts the butter into the rows; cold corn just wears butter on top like a coat it doesn't know what to do with.

6. 6

   Salt and serve

   Sprinkle with the fine salt, taste a kernel, and adjust. Serve right away, whole or cut in halves if you're feeding a table with small hands. The corn should be sweet, buttery, lightly salty, and juicy enough that people stop talking for a second. That's the point.

Chef Tips

• •The honest shortcut is frozen corn on the cob. Boil it straight from frozen and add a few minutes. It won't have the same fresh, milky sweetness, but it can still resolver o jantar on a Tuesday.
• •Don't add sugar to the water. If the corn needs sugar to taste like corn, the corn was the problem. Buy better ears next time, preferably in season.
• •Skip powdered butter flavor, seasoning packets, and yellow dust pretending to be food. Real butter and salt are faster, clearer, and don't insult the corn.
• •If you're cooking for a festa table, cut each ear in half after boiling. People take one, come back for another, and nobody has to commit to wrestling a giant cob while holding a plate.

Advance Preparation

• •Clean the corn up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Cook it close to serving so the kernels stay juicy.
• •Leftover cooked corn keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a covered pan with 2 tablespoons water, then butter again lightly.
• •For outdoor dining, cook the corn at home, wrap it loosely in foil, and butter it just before serving so it stays glossy instead of greasy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)