Corn, corn everywhere…

06 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by Birdie in Food Tags: , , , , ,

Those who know me well might be thinking, “Here comes a popcorn post!” after reading that title up above.  I LOVE popcorn, but we’ll leave that post for another day, another time.

I’m talking about whole yellow corn.

Let me back up a little bit.  Many times, it’s difficult for me to understand the surprise and shock people from other countries feel when they come to Japan for the first time.  Honestly, I envy it sometimes and wish I could crawl into their minds to see how THEY see this country.

So… back to whole corn… =)

One thing many people ask me is, “Why is there whole corn on EVERYTHING?”  It isn’t on every type of food you see in Japan, but some of the places/foods you find it on can be… odd, according to many.

(Oops… the cat stepped on the keyboard and “published” the post… continuing on…)

Let’s see, you can find whole corn on/in:

  • Pizza
  • Tossed salads
  • As a side to steaks, hamburger steaks, fried pork  (This is a rather “normal” one, perhaps.)
  • Potato salad
  • Sushi (“Gunkan maki” to be specific… it looks like a sushi roll standing upright.)
  • Ramen
  • Bread  (Literally “corn bread”, right?)  =)
  • Canned corn potage soup (or corn bisque)… may not sound very unusual, but this is a canned drink one can buy from a vending machine.  =)

I wish I had pictures to share with everyone.  (Something to add on later, maybe.)

To answer the question, “Why?”

Well, one point which is very important in the presentation of food in Japan is… color.  The yellow of the corn adds that bit of brightness like sunshine.  (Am trying to think if there are any other vegetables that are yellow… squash, maybe?  Can’t find squash down here where I live though.)

Another point could be the flavor and the “crunch”… the little bit of sweetness that fills your mouth when you bite down on a single piece.

It was completely by chance that the corn topic came up in one of my English classes tonight.  I was explaining to my students that finding corn on pizza is NOT a common thing in the States.  One student asked, “Why not?”

My thought exactly…  =)