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Hot and sour sweetcorn risotto

A delightful twist on the classic risotto. This exquisite creation showcases the infusion of a luscious lime butter and a tantalizing touch of bird’s-eye chillies, resulting in an extraordinary culinary experience.

Preparation time
overnight

Cooking time
30 mins to 1 hour

Serves
Serves 4

Dietary
Vegetarian

By Ravinder Bhogal
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the stock

  • 4 corn on the cobs
  • 6 garlic cloves, bruised
  • 3 lemongrass sticks, roughly chopped
  • thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
  • 2.5cm/1in piece fresh turmeric, peeled and thickly sliced
  • 2 shallots, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 8 lime leaves, torn
  • 3 red bird’s-eye chillies, slit open
  • 1 tomato, cut into quarters
  • 1 coriander root

If you can, make the stock in advance (at least 4 hours or overnight) to allow the flavours to infuse.

For the lime leaf butter

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, for frying
  • 10 lime leaves
  • 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 lime, zest and juice

For the risotto

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • knob butter
  • 2 banana shallots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 green chillies, very finely chopped
  • 200g/7oz carnaroli risotto rice
  • 250ml/9fl oz dry white wine
  • sea salt and black pepper

To garnish

  • handful kale crisps
  • 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots
  • 1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

Method

  1. To make the stock, cut the kernels off the cobs and set aside. Chop each cob into three pieces and place them in a deep saucepan. Add the rest of the stock ingredients, pour in 1.2 litres/2 pints water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Set aside and leave to infuse for at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible.

  2. To make the lime leaf butter, heat the oil in a small frying pan and fry the lime leaves for 20 seconds until crisp. Transfer to drain on kitchen paper then blend to a powder in a food processor. Mix with the butter and lime juice and zest in a small bowl. Chill in the fridge until needed.

  3. To make the risotto, strain the stock into a saucepan and discard the solids. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to low.

  4. In a food processor or blender, blitz a quarter of the corn kernels with 1 tablespoon of the stock until smooth and creamy, then set aside.

  5. Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan or casserole over a low heat, add the shallots and cook for 6–8 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and chillies and fry until fragrant. Turn up the heat, add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated. Turn the heat down to medium–low and add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed before adding more.

  6. When half of the stock has been added, stir in the whole corn kernels, then continue adding stock until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite to it and the corn is tender. This should take about 25 minutes. Stir in the puréed corn and cook for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and beat in the lime leaf butter. Season with salt and pepper.

  7. Serve the risotto topped with kale crisps, crispy shallots and sliced chilli, if desired.

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