22 March 2013

Momofuku-style Corn with Shrimp, Bacon, and Miso Butter

I really liked David Chang's recent PBS series "The Mind of a Chef". It really gets across how transformative it is to be exposed to real Japanese food (not just sushi). I wanted to try this recipe and so I used frozen sweet white corn. I also added 10 shrimp each to make it a complete meal, because shrimp go so well with corn.

Here's an approximation of what I did:

3 slices bacon
1 onion
20 medium (21-30) shelled shrimp
1 package frozen sweet corn
2 tbsp white miso (probably been in the fridge for 18 months, which is fine)
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 eggs

Combine the miso and butter with a fork.

Fry the bacon, remove. Pour out some of the fat, if necessary. Cook the onion in the bacon fat. Add the corn. When it's near heated through, add the shrimp and toss until just cooked. Then, re-add the bacon and miso butter and serve, topped with a soft-poached egg.

The miso gave a complex, almost wine-y flavor to the dish, but the corn was just too sweet. If I was to make this with frozen corn again, I'd get plain old Bird's Eye frozen corn. It'd be a bit more toothsome and satisfying. I'd also use thick-sliced bacon to make it more substantial.

Even better, I'll wait to do this again until late summer.