In this light soup, instead of cream, the natural milk of the corn serves to create this luscious soup. To extract the corn milk, you will grate one ear of corn on a box grater and squeeze out the milk hidden inside the kernels.
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites (separate 1 into one bowl and the other 2 into another bowl)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ lb (115 g) ground chicken
- 2 ears fresh, sweet white or yellow corn
- 4 cups (1 liter) store-bought or homemade Mom’s Chicken Stock
- ¼ cup (35 g) ¼-in (6-mm)-diced Virginia ham, or any other salted, cured ham
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon chilli oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions (scallions) or fresh cilantro (coriander), for garnish
How to Make It
- In a large bowl, whisk 1 of the egg whites with the cornstarch. Add the ground chicken and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or chopsticks until well combined.
- On a cutting board, lay one of the ears of corn on its side and, with a serrated knife, cut off the kernels. Reserve both the kernels and the cob.
- In a large bowl, use the large holes of a box grater to grate the remaining ear of corn. Stand the empty cob upright in the bowl and use the back of a chef’s knife to run up and down the spent corn cob, pressing to extract all of the corn pulp. Repeat on the other reserved cob. Over a fine meshed sieve, use your hands to squeeze all of the grated corn and pulp to extract the corn milk. Discard the spent corn and pulp, reserving the corn milk.
- In a stockpot, bring the chicken stock to a boil over high heat. Add the corn milk and simmer 5 minutes. Add the ground chicken, corn kernels and ham and cook another 2 minutes, stirring to break up the chicken. Season with the salt. Remove from the heat and drizzle in the remaining 2 egg whites, stirring with a spoon to create long, thin trails of egg white. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with the chilli oil and garnish with green onions or fresh cilantro.
