Can you Eat Ornamental Corn? Homemade Hominy
If you’ve ever looked at those stunning ears of decorative corn and wondered, “can you eat ornamental corn?”, I’m here with the answer- yes, and it’s delicious! Fresh hominy is soft, pillowy, and has that same delicious flavor as a warm tortilla. It’s perfect for soups and stews, and can be used like dried beans in many recipes. So put that pretty corn to good use, and let’s make something warming and comforting.
Skip the Post, Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
Can you Eat Ornamental Corn? What are the types of corn?
I’m guessing you’ve figured out the answer by this post, but yes, you can eat ornamental corn! When most of us think of corn, we think of the fresh ears of sweet corn. You know, the ones with the juice. It’s high in moisture and sugar, great with butter, but lousy as a tortilla. The type of corn we’re talking about here though is flint corn. Flint corn is also sometimes called calico corn or Indian corn, and grows in a variety of colors. It’s very hard, but once dried out it can be used for cornmeal, grits, hominy, masa and more. I made hominy with my flint corn, but there are other options- let me tell you all about it.
If you don’t want to mess around with much cooking, you can simply dry out your decorative corn and use it as popcorn. Throw on some vegan butter and nooch, and bingo-bango, you’ve done it. Is “bingo-bango” a real expression, or just something I made up? If you’re up for a little more work, throw that corn in your food processor let it break down. You’ll get a cornmeal that you can use in baking or as polenta or grits. If you plan on storing your cornmeal, make sure you dry it in a dehydrator or low-temperature oven first, since a small amount of moisture could lead it to spoil.
In order to get hominy, you have to do a process called nixtamalization, in which corn or another grain is soaked in an alkaline solution to remove the hull. Hominy can be cooked and eaten a lot like a bean, and is a staple in the Mexican soup pozole. So much so that hominy is often referred to as pozole. You can dry hominy after processing for longer storage. You can also grind and dry hominy into a flour, called masa harina. That is the flour most often used for tortillas, tamales, pupusas, and more. Masa harina has a different flavor, I don’t know how to describe it other than better and more corn like. And freshly made corn products- from cornmeal to masa- all have a better, cornier flavor than the average store-bought equivalent.
Looking for Fresh Corn Recipes? Try one of these!
- Roasted, Fiery Pineapple Corn Salad
- Hearty Bean Dinner Salad with Sun Dried Tomato Dressing
- Light and Brothy Vegan Corn Soup
- Tomato Masala Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Corn and Spinach
Looking for Hominy and Popcorn Recipes? Try one of these!
- Flavor-Bomb Vegan Snacking Hominy Recipe
- Cheesy, Spicy, Vegan Nacho Popcorn
- Vegan Posole with Tempeh and Mushrooms
Looking for Corn Meal, Grits, and Masa Recipes? Try one of these!
- Kabocha Squash and Cheese Vegan Pupusas
- Savory Scallion Cornbread Using Grits
- Baked Chile Relleno Cornbread Casserole
- Sweet or Savory Vegan Pawpaw Cornbread
- Kale and Mushroom Filled Sweet Potato Tamales
- Pinole Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup
How to Make Ornamental Corn Hominy
In order to make hominy, you need corn. Flint corn is best- you can use the ornamental stuff you have, or find an heirloom or specialty variety if you like. The first step is to remove the kernels from the cob. If the corn is a little drier, they do pop off more easily. Once the corn is off, rinse to remove any excess husk. Then into the pot it goes, along with water and lye. Make sure you use proper safety when handling lye, as described more below. Let the mixture boil, and then let it sit. After sitting for a few hours, rinse the corn well. Then add in a bath of cool water and use your hands to rub and massage the kernels, so the black tips fall off. Rinse and repeat a few times, until most of the ends are removed. And that’s actually it- from there you can dry your hominy to preserve it, or grind it down into masa, or (my favorite) cook it a little more and enjoy.
How to Use Lye Safely
Lye is the common term for sodium hydroxide, and it’s actually used a lot in food (although less often by home cooks). More often these days hominy is made using culinary lime rather than lye, which is a little safer to use. I used lye here, frankly, because I had it. From pretzels to curing olives, lye is used as a strong and corrosive alkaline substance. It can be used in hominy to remove the hull and germ. In baked goods like pretzels lye works to break up the proteins, which allows the crust to form and brown. But lye does more than break down maize and gluten- it can also breakdown things like metals, wood or your skin. When combined with water, lye produces an exothermic reaction, which means it will get very hot. It will also corrode your skin, eyes, and internal organs if swallowed without being neutralized. Always use lye in a diluted form, according to the recipe you’re following. Make sure you’re wearing long sleeves, close-toed shoes, gloves, and safety glasses when handing lye. Make sure your space is well ventilated. Use non-reactive materials, like stainless steel, glass, enamel, and plastic. Fun side note, the wooden utensil I used to stir here actually snapped into pieces a day or two later. Oops. Lye can damage countertops, so make sure you put down something to protect them if you’re worried. Clean up lye spills with a cloth and water, and rinse the cloth well in cool water after. To dispose of your hominy soaking liquid simply pour it down the drain, and follow it up with 30 seconds of water. I like to add a splash of vinegar down the drain and in the sink as well, just as an added safety precaution.
Make sure you use food grade lye when cooking. Please read this page from the CDC for more information on Sodium Hydroxide safety.
Can you Eat Ornamental Corn? Homemade Hominy
Ingredients
- 500g. decorative corn kernels (about 4 ears worth, or 3 cups)
- 5 grams of sodium hydroxide (aka lye)
Instructions
- Remove the kernels from the cob- you can use your hands like I did, or you can use a fairly dull knife to pop the kernels out more quickly. Weigh your resulting corn, and if your weight is more or less see the formula below and adjust.
- Use protective gloves and long sleeves when handling lye, as it can burn skin. Be extra careful not to get it in your eyes, and work in a space with ventilation. Add the lye to your water in a non-reactive pot (I used enamel). Stir well to dissolve, then add the corn. Bring up to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, turn off the heat and let the mixture sit and cool for roughly 6 hours.
- Drain the sludge-like water from the corn wearing your protective gear, and rinse the kernels in a few batches of water to remove any remaining lye. Place in a bowl of cool water and use your hands to rub the kernels, removing the dark tips from the rest. Rinse and repeat a few times.
- And now you have hominy! You can grind and dry it to make masa harina flour, or dry the kernels whole for future use. I added mine to a pot of bean soup, and slow cooked it for an amazing stew.
Notes
Formula: Use 1 gram of lye for every 100 grams of corn (as you can see this measurement is done be weight). I found it also works best to use the same amount of corn as water by volume, so since my 500g. of corn was about 3 cups, I used 3 cups of water, but if you have 5 cups of corn you’ll use 5 cups of water, so there is enough water to just cover the corn. You don’t want to use a lot of water, since it will dilute the lye and make it less functional.
Click for a Print-Friendly Recipe!
Can you Eat Ornamental Corn? Yes, and you can Pin It!
1 thought on “Can you Eat Ornamental Corn? Homemade Hominy”