Mais con Hielo, Filipino Sweet Corn Cooler
Mais con hielo, corn with ice, is a Filipino merienda, the mid-afternoon snack that cools you down in the heat: sweet corn layered with crushed ice and sweetened milk, eaten with a spoon as the ice slowly melts into it. The street version floats on evaporated and sweetened condensed milk, both dairy and both sugar. This one keeps the shape of the thing while changing what carries it, with soy milk for the body and blended dates for the sweetness, so it stays plant-based and, since the original never used coconut, naturally coconut-free. A pinch of cinnamon is a common home touch. Make the sweet milk ahead and assemble over ice at the last minute.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Frozen corn
- 2 cups Unsweetened soy milk, cold
- 4 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1/4 tsp cassia cinnamon, ground
Method
- Simmer the corn in water for 5 minutes until fully tender, then drain and chill. Cooking the kernels through makes them sweeter and soft enough to eat with a spoon.
- Blend the pitted dates with 1 cup (240 ml) of the soy milk and the cinnamon until completely smooth, then stir in the remaining soy milk. The dates replace the sweetened condensed and evaporated milk this cooler is usually built on, carrying fiber instead of refined sugar.
- For a creamier milk, blend half the cooled corn into the sweet soy milk and keep the rest whole. A mix of blended and whole corn gives you both a creamy base and kernels to spoon up.
- Fill each glass with crushed ice, spoon the corn over, and pour the sweet milk on top. Serve with a spoon and eat it as it melts; mais con hielo is a dessert you eat, not a drink you sip.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 150 calories, 5 g protein, 3 g fiber, 60 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.
