This is, by far, the weirdest stir-fry dish I have ever made or heard of. Part of the reason I decided to make it was because it was so intriguing in its improbability. Had the normally sane and rational Mark Bittman taken leave of his senses? Was the date on this April 1? Had Sandra Lee taken over the New York Times dining section in a brief and successfully covered-up coup? Creamed corn?
The end result was no less perverse than the concept but you know what? It’s kind of good. More than kind of. Once you get past the disturbing resemblance to a platter of beans and weenies…
you begin to appreciate it. Even Amanda Hesser says “its success cannot be explained. Just enjoy it.”
One small note: the recipe does not specify but I removed the skin from the thigh meat I used in this dish. I also added the scallions since I had run out of cilantro. It definitely needs something green.
Stir-Fried Chicken with Creamed Corn (wow, still hard to even type it), by Mark Bittman, is on page 483 of The Essential New York Times Cookbook.
I don’t think I’ve had creamed corn since I was a kid. I know the “cream” is not dairy. It’s mashed corn or made from the corn liquid you get when you scrape the cob, right? So it kind of makes sense that that would be the thickening agent instead of the corn starch in a regular stir fry. Am surprised Mr. Bittman suggests white rice…Would have thought him to be a brown rice kind of guy.
I trust Amanda Hesser, and I sure trust YOU, but this looks so………odd.
In the summer we often have corn and tomatoes for lunch so my creamed corn is made from leftover cooked corn kernels cut off the cob with a little zipper-like tool and cooked again with loads of cream, then sprinkled with Maldon salt and black pepper – none of this pussy-footing around with milk that you squish with the back of your chef’s knife for me.
So glad you gave this one a try!
Actually, my husband was the one who picked this odd recipe from Bittman’s cookbook. It sounded so weird, we just had to try it. It’s a hit with us and part of our regular menu rotation. Give it a try!