Corn Is Literally The Only Ingredient Needed For A Delicious Ready-To-Sip Soup

When sweet summer corn is fresh and abundant at your local farmers market, it's best to prepare it as simply as possible and with very few ingredients. You're probably used to eating it straight off the cob after it's been grilled in its husk or briefly boiled and slathered in butter and salt. Make no mistake: this is a perfect food. 

We're not here to cast aside a classic, of course. But if you're looking to mix things up, capitalize on that juicy corn flavor, and keep things as fuss-free as possible, try making no-cook corn soup. It only takes one ingredient (you guessed it: corn) and you don't even need to turn on your stove. All you need is salt, a juicer, and sweet corn. 

The chilled soup, which The Takeout gleaned from a "chef friend," is endlessly adaptable; better yet, it's delicious enough on its own that it doesn't require any add-ons in its most basic form. Here's how to make it at home. 

To make no-cook, one-ingredient corn soup, start with five or six of the freshest ears of corn you can find. After peeling away the husks, cut away the kernels by positioning each ear on the base of an upside-down bowl or baking pan to prevent the kernels from flying everywhere. Next, as The Takeout notes, run the back of a knife up and down the cob to release as much corn milk as you can. The starchy white liquid is packed with corn flavor. Once you're done with the cob, seal it in an air-tight container and toss in it the freezer; you can even use it for your next batch of corn chowder.  

Finally, bust out your juicer and juice the corn in batches on medium. Add a little salt to the liquid, pour it into glasses or shallow bowls, and sip it like chilled gazpacho. You don't even need a spoon. If you're so inclined, you could toast some spices or chili flakes in olive oil and drizzle it over the soup with some finely chopped chives. But again, the best part about this soup is that those fix-ins aren't necessary; this soup is already pretty much perfect in its purest form. 

If you don't have a juicer, don't be deterred from turning fresh corn into drinkable nectar. A blender will do just fine. In fact, it will get you even closer to the traditional corn juice that's sipped throughout China, Thailand, and Vietnam, where it's sometimes served with milk and sugar. Just like corn soup made in a juicer, corn juice uses very few ingredients and leans on the flavor of the corn "milk" nestled behind the kernels. 

The simplest version of corn juice involves blending the kernels and milk of fresh corn with one cup of water per ear of corn and straining it. Other versions are ever-so-slightly more involved. For instance, The Woks of Life explains that the non-alcoholic beverage selections at many restaurants in China feature a sweet corn drink that's creamy in texture, almost like a smoothie, and can be served hot or cold.