Few foods capture late summer quite like corn. Sweet, golden and still carrying the warmth of the sun, it recalls outdoor tables, roadside stands, and simple ears brushed with butter and sprinkled with salt.

Across New York City, however, chefs are finding new possibilities in this familiar crop. Drawing upon Korean, Thai, Japanese, Georgian, Indian and Filipino traditions, they are transforming corn into imaginative desserts, savory dishes and refreshing drinks.

Summer corn dessert (Image: Courtesy of Nōksu)

At Nōksu, pastry chef Brandon Ting gives nearly every part of the corn a place in his Summer Corn dessert. According to the restaurant, the creation reflects a zero-waste approach, making use of the kernels, husk and silk.

A pecan corn cake is steeped in Korean corn silk tea and accompanied by caramelized honey-corn whip and candied pecans. Delicate tuiles prepared from corn juice and corn nuts add contrasting textures, while a corn ash sablé forms the base. Corn ice cream completes this thoughtful celebration of the entire ear.

Sweet corn sakoo (Image: Courtesy fo Valla Table)

At Valla Table in Hell’s Kitchen, corn appears in Sakoo, a traditional Thai dessert made with tapioca pearls, sweet corn and young coconut meat. As described by the restaurant, it is a gentle meeting of soft textures and delicate tropical sweetness.

Summer Cherry Corn Cake (Image: Courtesy of Chama Mama’s)

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At Chama Mama, Georgian flavors meet the season in a summer cherry corn cake served with corn cream. The combination brings together the mellow sweetness of corn and the bright character of summer cherries.

Together, these desserts remind us that corn has long belonged to the sweet kitchen as naturally as it has to the savory one.

At Muku in Tribeca, chef Manabu Asanuma presents Niebana, a small course that places sweet corn alongside Hokkaido uni, mullet roe, sweet peas and rice.

The restaurant explains that the name evokes the brief instant when an ingredient reaches its finest expression. It is a fitting thought for summer corn, whose sweetness seems to vanish almost as quickly as the season itself.

corn-salad-Chada
Thai Sweet Corn Salad (Image: courtesy of Chada)

At Chada in the West Village, Sira “Don” Dechasawas prepares a Thai-style Sweet Corn Salad with long beans, tomato, chili, dried shrimp and roasted peanuts. The ingredients promise a lively balance of sweetness, heat, salt and crunch.

Corn also finds its way into the glass. At Dhamaka, Unapologetic Foods Group beverage manager Adam Kissner looks to the Indian tradition of bhuna — roasted corn seasoned with lime and chaat masala — for his bhuna butta cocktail.

According to the restaurant, charred corn syrup is blended with vodka, lime and ginger liqueur. A roasted corn wheel seasoned with lime and chaat masala completes the drink, recalling the spirited flavors of Indian street food.

At the group’s Filipino restaurant Naks, Kissner reinterprets mais con yelo, the beloved dessert traditionally made with sweet corn, shaved ice and milk. The restaurant describes a nonalcoholic drink in which blended corn creates a smooth, creamy foundation, finished with condensed milk foam and corn kernels.

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