Miso Butter Corn with Togarashi and Furikake

Miso butter corn with Japanese toppings. This corn is strangely familiar yet completely different.

It’s a delicious hybrid of Mexican and Japanese flavors perfect for summer!

Summer isn’t summer until I’ve had my fair share of corn.

Previously, I shared my love of street corn (more familiarly known as elote).

It’s a delicious Mexican snack that you can readily find in the streets of Los Angeles. Corn with mayo, cotija cheese, spices and a hint of lime juice- it’s a winner.

Southern California is a melting pot of cuisines. You can get everything and anything you could possibly to want to eat here. And then if that’s not enough, there is also a plethora of well done fusion foods.

Miso Butter Corn

With the popularity of hybrid foods, I did a little experimenting of my own.

How about a Japanese twist on my beloved street corn? SCORE!

While you can find corn year round, nothing beats fresh summer corn. It’s juicier, sweeter, and so much more flavorful.  

There are no limitations to what you can top corn with.

This Japanese miso butter corn has got me thinking of all sorts of combinations…pho corn, gochujang butter corn, corn parmigiana, Greek corn, curry corn…

How to Cook Corn on the Cob

While I love grilled corn, I like to pre-cook mine in salted water first. The salted water greatly helps to season the corn.

This is perfect for outdoor bbq and picnics. You can precook the corn at home and reheat them on the grill when you’re ready to eat.

Use these directions for 5 ears of corn.

1. Bring 6 quarts (24 cups) water and 3 tablespoons of kosher salt to a boil.
2. Remove any damaged outer husks of corn. Peel the husks down to the base without detaching from the cob. Discard any silk found around the corn kernels.
3. Return the husks back over the corn and tie ends together using kitchen string.
4. Place the prepared cobs into the boiling salted water.
5. Cook for 8-10 minutes.

Corn Toppings

To amp up the flavors, the cooked corn is coated with miso butter. This miso butter is a mixture of red miso (you can also use yellow or white miso), butter and salt. 

It’s a sweet and savory spread that you’ll want to put on everything. The miso butter acts like glue to help bind all the toppings to the corn.

In keeping with elote, I used Mexican cotija cheese. It adds the perfect amount of saltiness and it’s own kind of rich yet dry texture.

For spice, I used ichimi togarashi which is simply ground red chili pepper. This is different from “shichimi togarashi” which is a combination of ground red chili pepper with other spices like orange peel, sesame seeds, and ground ginger.

And the final topping is my favorite part- furikake! Furikake is a dry Japanese seasoning that is typically served on top of rice.

There are numerous variation of furikake available. The nori komi furikake used in this recipe is a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed flakes, salt and sugar. Other variations include bonito flakes, powdered miso, or shiso.

The resulting corn is strangely familiar yet completely different. The sweet corn mixed with funky cojita, salted miso, seaweed and spicy red chili pepper hits every taste bud on your tongue.