Lye Hominy or Hulled Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the lye in cold water.
Stir in the corn and let it stand for 15 hours.
Wash the corn thoroughly to remove the lye and hulls, using a cloth bag to help remove hulls.
Soak the cleaned hominy overnight in water with a little salt to remove discoloration.
Cover the hominy with water and add the salt, then boil in a covered kettle for 3 to 4 hours until thoroughly cooked, ensuring the hominy remains covered with water.
Change the water once or twice during cooking to lessen the lye taste.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Is the base grain that is softened and puffed by the alkaline lye treatment.
- Lye (sodium hydroxide)
- Loosens the corn's hulls and softens the kernels by breaking down their outer layer.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the hominy during the soak and boil.
The step that matters
Washing out the lye. Lye is caustic and leaves a bitter, harsh taste if residue remains. Thorough rinsing and changing the cooking water help remove it before the hominy is eaten.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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