Why it works: Corn and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,168 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Can Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the corn
Cut corn from the cob and place it in a kettle.
Cover the corn with water and bring to a boil.
Dissolve 1 ounce of tartaric acid in a little hot water and add it to the corn.
Stir well and let the corn boil for 5 minutes.
Seal the corn in glass jars while hot; do not use tin cans.
Serve
When ready to serve, pour off the sour water and cover the corn with fresh water.
Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda and let it stand for 1-2 hours.
Change the water and boil the corn for at least 1 hour.
While boiling, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and season to 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
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Forms the bulk of the dish and provides its texture and sweetness.
- Tartaric acid
- Adds sourness, giving the corn its tangy flavor.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's alkalinity, which softens the corn kernels during soaking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sourness of the tartaric acid.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda and soaking. Baking soda is a strong alkali; soaking in it for 1-2 hours softens the kernels. The corn must then be rinsed and reboiled in fresh water, because leftover alkali can leave a soapy or bitter taste.
“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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