Yummy Kitchen

Corn

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Corn, also called ‘maize’ or ‘cereal plant’. Is an edible yellow or multicolored grain comes from the grass family, domesticated by the indigenous people from Southern Mexico, and have been cultivated and eaten till today, and probably further more in the future. This plant is eaten not only for the sweet taste and chewy texture, but highly valued for its vitamins, minerals, antioxidant and fiber content.

A short Introduction

Corn, also known as ‘Corn Maize’,  just ‘Maize’, or ‘Indian corn’, is called a ‘Cereal plant’ under the Poeceae grass family. A flowering plant and relative to grasses, orchids, lilies ,and palms these are part of most of the world’s staple crops with rice and wheat. Is corn a vegetable? This is considered both a vegetable and a grain based on the time it is harvested. Depending on the maturity or how long after it should be harvested and dried these can either be an easy meal you can quickly steam and add to dishes, or fully dried and hard enough to make into flour or even eaten as a grain. Parts this crop are composed of the roots and stalk which hold the up the system of leaves, the ear of corn which is covered by the green husks or leaves that protect the vegetable, and the tassel which is the topmost part of the plant that is what attracts insects and bees for pollination.

A domesticated starchy vegetable or grain, these came through fruition 10,000 or more years ago. Where these were derived from the wild grass called ‘teosinte’ that can still be found in modern Mexico. The culture of eating this vegetable-grain was spread from Southern Maine to North America and Native America from European colonists. Which then slowly went and spread around the world, having different classifications depending on the kernel color and texture. Depending on which type it could be turned into livestock feed, corn flour, or sweet or regular corn to consume after cooking, or like Flint corn which has a little starch and is used mostly as decoration or made into kernels for popcorn. While the earliest illustration of the plant is said to be small and produced little, today this plant has been interbred with other plants to become what is commonly seen today by Native Americans. Corss-breed or Hybrid corn of today produces more vegetables and has become easier to plant and harvest.

Aside from the recent comeback of this starchy grain, from the Tiktok recipes videos to using the viral ‘corn song’. You can find many people around the world cooking corn on the grill to make corn on the cob, eat with a simple brush of butter and salt, dust with spices, add to salads and make a summer corn salad, casserole, fried in batter to make corn fritters, you can also find popular chowder recipes or homemade cornbread recipes online, or find them added into soups for extra color, taste, and texture.

Corn benefits and Side effects

Is corn healthy? A staple in many countries especially eaten in the summertime. These are a nutritious option to get vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein, and thiamin into your body. An affordable option that only contains around 88 calories per serving. Here are some benefits:

Corn questions:

Corn as one of the top crops in the Philippines

While not seen as widely important to the Filipino food culture. ‘Corn’ or ‘Mais’ in Tagalog is a vegetable that is considered the top 2 most important crops after rice, as the country produced around 2.5 million hectares, with 2019 being one of the biggest production making 8 million tons. There are around 8 types: Sweet corn the yellow colored most common corn sometimes called ‘Japanese sweet corn’, white corn or ‘White Lagkitan’ a glutinous waxy corn, Wild Violet Corn which has a mix of white and purple kernels and are slightly sweet, Purple cron from South America that is known for being sticky and subtly sweet used as food coloring and eaten for its high antioxidant content. Visayan White corn or ‘tinigib’ which is a variety from Cebu that taste more like rice and are the ones most used in desserts, and Young corn that just refers to mais harvested early while these are still young typically added into soups and stews. All of these are commonly consumed by the masses and sometimes added into animal feed. Typically you can find Filipinos boiling the mais for a few minutes until tender, not as common as grilling corn. You can find them in these recipes: