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Kitchen Essentials

This gooey cheesy side dish makes a great accompaniment to any cold-weather dinner party. Think of it as a cross between Japanese curry, corn gratin, creamed corn, and Korean corn cheese. The curry block is a hack to avoid making a proper roux and will ensure your cheese sauce is nice and creamy.

*The potato starch helps make the sauce extra silky, but if you don't have any you can omit it. If omitting, reduce the broth to 1.5 cups and gradually add in extra broth towards the end of cooking to reach your desired sauce consistency.

Curry Corn Cheese

Heat up an oven and broiler proof skillet (cast iron works well here, if you have it) on medium heat. If you don’t have a pan like this or want to serve this dish in ramekins/a casserole dish, prepare the dish by lightly spraying it with cooking spray and setting it aside (but make sure it’s broiler-proof!) while you heat a medium-sized pan.

Add the cooking oil, followed by the onions, salt, and pepper, and saute until softened and slightly carmelized, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the broth and bring it to a boil. Add the curry cube and gently stir the mixture until the cube completely dissolves and the mixture thickens significantly.

Shred your cheese (if you’re not using store bought shredded), then add 1.5 cups to the curry mixture. Stir carefully to combine. Add the cream and gently whisk until everything is homogeneous.

Dump in the frozen corn and mix. The cheese mixture will seize up a bit because the corn is cold, but this is ok. Just keep mixing occasionally—the cheesy sauce will loosen back up once the corn melts completely and heats up.

Once the mixture is gooey and bubbling around the edges, add the potato starch to the cool tap water in a small bowl and mix well until there are no clumps. Dump this mixture into the corn cheese and stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes, then add the parsley and mix.

Taste the sauce and add any extra salt or pepper to your liking.

If cooking directly in the pan: Top the corn cheese with the remaining mozzarella and sprinkle a couple tablespoons of panko on top, if desired. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil until golden brown and bubbling — about 3-5 minutes, rotating halfway through to make sure the top is evenly browned.

If using ramekins: Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish/ramekins, top with remaining cheese, and sprinkle with panko bread crumbs if desired. If the dishes are smaller, arrange them on a baking sheet for easy transportation and move to the oven. Broil until golden brown and bubbling, making sure to keep an eye on the dish(es) and rotating to ensure even browning. This should take about 3-5 minutes.

Japanese curry block (usually this is 1/4 of a larger brick)