We Americans are used to eating sweet corn, on the cob with lots of salt and butter. Have you ever had raw corn?? Or Korean barbequed corn? All are a stark contrast.
When I was recently eating Korean BBQ, our table ordered grilled corn. It certainly wasn’t sweet corn! This wasn’t the first time I had the wrong impression from the menu or from a Chinese street vendor. Of course, it has nothing to due with the corn itself, but the engrained (hah!) association of corn being sweet from my growing up only eating sweet corn. And to tell the truth, I quite enjoyed this experience of Korean BBQ corn being a bit chewy and flavorless. It’s perfect for texture eaters, and in addition, the long corn makes you truly appreciate and realize the heartiness of the grain (or vegetable, if you prefer to call it that).
And as far as stark contrasts go, next on my list of things tried was raw sweet corn at Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant in Hong Kong (which also has delicious sushi!). Because it’s corn season, the waitress convinced us to try this raw dish. Unique indeed. The corn was sweet, crunchy to the bite, and juicy –nothing at all like the Korean BBQ. I still can’t believe that these two dishes are made from the same plant! Who would have thought raw corn could be so sweet?
Go and see if your local Korean BBQ restaurant or Japanese sushi joint have these dishes to try! And as always, let us know what you think 
