Soup on a rainy day: Suam na Mais

Rainy days and nights in the Philippines always call for something warm and comforting. Our mental folders are filled with popular weekly or bi-weekly rotating meals to make sure we have something for the cold weather: sinigang, nilaga, tinola, bulalo, etc. The list goes on.

Suam na Mais, a well-loved and well-known Kapampangan dish is a Filipino version of fresh corn soup that uses the native white corn (called lagkitan) instead of the yellow variety.

This lagkitan corn makes the soup thick, eliminating the need to use corn starch or any other thickening agent.

Compared to the yellow variety, the native white corn gives a thick texture when cooked as a soup due to its starch component. Try this for your next soup-on-a-rainy-day craving.

A bowl of this is equivalent to a peek into your childhood – like how my mom used to make this when I was a child – so making this does not only give you the physical comfort on cold nights, but also a warm hug thanks to core memories unlocked.

Suam na Mais goes well with shrimp and chicken, and it is up to you to add whatever other preferences you may have. This recipe is my base version of sinabawang mais, or suam na mais.

Ingredients:

7 pieces or 1 kilo of native white corn

Salt and pepper for seasoning

A few tablespoons of light soya sauce or fish sauce

A dash of vegetable seasoning

Dahon ng sili, a few bunches

1 small red onion, diced

A few cloves of garlic, minced

Vegetable oil or olive oil for sautéing

Water or chicken stock

Procedure:

1. Using a knife, remove the corn kernels from the cob. Set aside.

2. In a casserole, heat oil and sauté garlic and onion on medium heat.

3. Once onion is translucent, add the white corn kernels. Cook on medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Add the chicken stock or vegetable stock and allow to boil.

5. Reduce to low heat and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes until tender.

6. Season with salt and pepper and your other preferred seasonings such as light soya sauce, vegetable seasoning.

7. You may opt to use an immersion blender to roughly blend the soup to come up with the desired consistency.

8. Once consistency is achieved, add the sili leaves. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

9. Serve warm

Yield: Serves 5 to 6 as a side

Notes:

– You may add shrimp in this dish. Cook shrimp with the garlic and onions and remove once cooked, set aside. You may add this later on once the soup is done cooking or when ready to serve, you may place the cooked shrimps in your soup bowls before adding the soup.

-Chicken will also go well with this.

Happy cooking!

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The author may be reached at [email protected] or follow her at Instagram @kaycalpolugtu and @aplateofbahaykubo.