Creme de Milho, Brazilian Sweet Corn Soup
Creme de milho is a soft, sweet corn soup that Brazilian home cooks make from fresh corn in summer and canned or frozen the rest of the year, usually enriched with cream or a spoon of cornstarch and butter. Neither is necessary. A single potato, simmered until soft and blended into the pot, releases enough starch to carry the soup to a genuinely creamy texture, which is the same move that thickens a good potato-leek soup without a drop of dairy. Charring a portion of the corn dry before it goes in builds a toasted depth that reads almost smoky, and stirring those kernels back in after blending keeps a little texture in an otherwise smooth bowl. The scrape of fresh nutmeg at the end is the touch that marks it as Brazilian.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Frozen corn
- 1 Potatoe, peeled and diced
- 1 Yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 whole Bay leaves
- 1 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 2 Scallions, thinly sliced, to garnish
Method
- Set aside 1 cup (about 150 g) of the corn, then char it in a dry skillet over high heat until spots blacken, about 5 minutes. This reserved charred corn is stirred back in at the end, so the smooth soup keeps both a sweet-toasted flavor and something to bite.
- Sweat the onion in a pot with a few tablespoons of water until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes, adding the garlic for the last minute. Sweating in water instead of oil still builds the sweet aromatic base, it just asks you to stir and add a splash more water if the pot goes dry.
- Add the remaining 3 cups corn, the diced potato, the bay leaf, and 3 cups (720 ml) water. Simmer 15 minutes, until the potato is fully soft. The potato is the whole thickening trick: blended, its starch gives the soup a creamy body with no cream.
- Fish out the bay leaf and blend the soup until completely smooth, then return it to the pot. A full two-minute blend is what turns corn and potato into velvet, so let it run.
- Stir in the soy milk, the charred corn, the nutmeg, and black pepper, and warm through without boiling. Nutmeg is the quiet Brazilian signature in creamed corn, and a little goes far. Serve topped with sliced scallions.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 180 calories, 7 g protein, 6 g fiber, 50 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
