Local Corn

I like corn very much and in season I will often have only corn on the cob for lunch. My wife told this to one of her friends and the next time the friend visited she brought this package of locally grown corn. As you can see from the size of the pencil, the cobs are quite short.

When I boiled them and started eating, I discovered that the kernels are very chewy, which apparently accounts for the name mochi corn. Mochi is a typical Japanese food. Here is the introduction to the Wikipedia entry.

Mochi (餅^?) is Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki.^[1] While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time. Mochi is called môa-chî (麻糬) in Taiwan.

Mochi is a multicomponent food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, protein and water. Mochi has a heterogeneous structure of amylopectin gel, starch grains and air bubbles.^[2] This rice is characterized by its lack of amylose in starch and is derived from short or medium japonica rices. The protein concentration of the rice is a bit higher than normal short-grain rice and the two also differ in amylose content. In mochi rice, the amylose content is negligible which results in the soft gel consistency of mochi.^[3]

Except for the kernel skins, the texture and taste of the corn was quite similar to mochi. A few days later mochi corn appeared in our local supermarket so I was able to enjoy it a couple of times before the season was over. I am definitely looking forward to having it again next summer.