#323_How to Freeze Corn

I like to freeze corn when they are in season and only when they are cheap, so that I will have them handy to make "Ginataang Mais", even in the Winter and Spring time. It's a very tedious process specially if you're doing a bushel of them, but I only freeze just enough for making Ginataang Mais which only calls for 3-4 ears of corn per recipe. (click here for the recipe)

I learned this process from an acquaintance, Mrs. Scharffer, one day while she was freezing corn from their own harvest.

Here's how to freeze corn:

First off, shuck the husks and take the silks off the corn.

In a huge pot, bring water to a rolling boil, then carefully drop the halved corn on the cob. (you'll find out later why I cut them in half). Bring the water back to a boil then begin timing for 4 minutes.


After 4 minutes, take the corn on the cob from the boiling water and let them cool in ice cold water for about 10 minutes. Put them in a colander to drip.


The reason why I cut the corn in half so I can have them stand on the flat end and stay steady on the board and not wobbly when cutting them.

Place the corn kernels in plastic bags, label and freeze.

#17_ Ginataang Mais

A drizzle of coconut cream makes this even more delish!

This is a merienda "on a budget"...a cup of rice will feed an army, and can be eaten warm or cold,(room temperature). Make sure to use coconut cream and not coconut milk as coconut milk is thinner than the coconut cream.

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice

10 cups water

2 cups white sugar

2 cans coconut cream, reserve 1/2 can for topping

3 ears of young corn

Procedure:

Remove kernels fron the corn if you're using fresh. I used frozen corn in this recipe as fresh corn were unreasonably expensive the day I made this. After thawing out a 15 oz bag of frozen corn in the microwave, I put them in the food processor and pulsed it about 5 times until the corn kernels are just broken up but not ground.

In a large pot rinse the malagkit and discard the water. Replace it with 5 cups water. Bring to a boil then simmer until the rice grains are halfway cooked, then add the sugar. Continue to simmer, about 10 minutes, then add the rest of the water and the corn. Let it simmer for another 20-25 minutes, stirring ocasionally. Add 1 1/2 cans of coconut cream about 5 minutes before you take it out from the stove stirring well.

NOTE:

The reason I added the coconut cream 5 minutes before taking it out of the stove was because cooking the coconut cream longer will cause it to render its oil. I personally don't like to see coconut oil on the surface of my ginataan.