The Japanese love their corn potage (corn soup) both hot and chilled! While this easy recipe is delicious made with ears of fresh sweet corn, you also can use frozen or canned corn. This creamy and smooth soup will comfort you on those cool evenings of late summer!
One of our family’s favorites, sweet corn, is in season from June to October. While we spent the summer in Japan, I received a lot of recipe requests for Corn Potage and Japanese Corn Soup. As soon as I returned, I quickly refined my original recipe so I could share this late, late-summer soup with you.
As the nights are starting to make a subtle shift with a touch of cool air, this Japanese Corn Potage or Corn Soup would be the coziest way to savor the deliciousness of the last of the season’s produce.
What is Corn Potage (Japanese Corn Soup)?
Potage itself refers to thick soups, stews or porridges, which has its origins in the middle ages cuisine of northern France. Despite it being a western-style soup, there is no western recipe for corn potage on the internet. Instead, you would find Japanese corn potage recipes.
In the country where soups are mostly considered some types of miso soup, there are a few non-Japanese soups that are popular in Japan. Corn potage or corn soup is one of them, along with clam chowder, minestrone, borscht, and Chinese-style soups (chuka soup 中華スープ).
So what is corn potage? It’s a super creamy corn soup made with fresh/canned/frozen corn, onion, milk, and heavy cream. It’s ridiculously simple.
This creamy corn soup is called “potage” where the corn kernels and soup are blended till smooth and strained through fine mesh sieve. As a result, the soup has no fibers and the texture is silky smooth and creamy with a somewhat thick consistency.
When the soup is not blended and still has chunky bits of corn, we usually refer to it as corn soup. However, some people would call the creamy corn potage with thick consistency “corn soup” as well, so it may be a little confusing.
Both corn potage and corn soup are especially popular among children because Okosama Lunch (children’s menu) often includes corn potage/soup as a part of the kid’s meal next to Ebi Fry and Hambagu. We all grew up drinking corn potage and there is a nostalgic feeling attached to this soup for the Japanese.
If you’re in Japan, you can even get corn potage from the vending machine!
3 Tips to Make Delicious Corn Potage (Japanese Corn Soup)
Tip 1 – Cook the cobs together in the soup
If you’re using fresh corn on the cob to make this recipe, do not discard the cobs! Make sure to add them to the soup while cooking as they release delicious flavors and sweetness to the soup.
Tip 2 – Use water for the soup
If you prefer a strong corn flavor in your soup, I highly recommend using water for the soup and getting the maximum corn flavor out of the corn kernels.
Some other recipes for corn soup/corn potage recommend using vegetable or chicken broth or bouillon and I’ve tried them, but being a purist I stick to using ONLY water to extract the sweet corn flavor for pure undiluted taste.
Tip 3 – Adjust the ratio of creaminess with milk and heavy cream
I assume most of us prefer rich and creamy soup, but not everyone can afford to get extra calories from heavy cream. It’s entirely up to you how much heavy cream you want to add to this recipe. Feel free to adjust the ratio of heavy cream and milk for the 2 cups you add to the soup.
Which Do You Prefer: Corn Soup or Corn Potage?
When comes to the texture, you can choose to blend the corn kernels and strain, blend but not strain, or keep the corn kernels as they are. It’s really a personal preference.
For those who have tried corn potage in Japan and love it, I’m sure you would prefer following today’s method.
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Corn Potage (Japanese Corn Soup)
Ingredients
- 4 ears sweet corn (large; or substitute 3 cups frozen corn or drained canned corn from 2 (15-oz) cans)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (divided)
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ onion
- 1½ Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
For the Garnish
- 1 sprig parsley (chopped)
- 1 Tbsp heavy (whipping) cream
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 450ºF (230ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
To Prepare the Corn
- Slice off the corn kernels from 4 ears sweet corn.
- Place the corn kernels on a rimmed baking sheet, saving the cobs for later.
- Add 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt, and ¼ tsp paprika.
- Mix all together with your hands and spread it out evenly in a single layer. Roast the corn kernels at 450ºF (230ºC) degrees for 15 minutes. Once it‘s done, remove it from the oven and set it aside.
To Prepare the Soup
- Meanwhile, thinly slice ½ onion against the grain. Heat 1½ Tbsp unsalted butter in a heavy-bottomed pot.
- Add the sliced onion and a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté until translucent.
- Add the roasted kernels and 3 cups water.
- Add the reserved cobs to the pot to naturally sweeten the soup. Push the cobs down to check if they are completely covered by the liquid; if not, add more water until submerged.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and lower the heat to medium-low heat and simmer for 15 minutes. During this time, skim the foam on the surface for a more refined taste. After 15 minutes, discard the cobs.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until creamy and smooth. If you use a food processor or blender, let the soup cool for a few minutes before blending to avoid major splashes and cover the opening with a towel.
- If you want to make your soup similar to corn potage (Japanese corn soup), strain the soup through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother consistency.
- Transfer the soup back to the pot. Add 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream and 1 cup milk. The ratio is entirely up to you. Here, I used equal parts milk and heavy cream, 1 cup each. Bring back to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes or more, stirring frequently. Once the water evaporates, it’ll be more flavorful.
- Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Make sure to taste the soup when you season. Finely chop 1 sprig parsley. Serve the soup hot or chilled. You can drizzle 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and/or 1 Tbsp heavy (whipping) cream among the bowls and sprinkle the parsley to garnish.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container (or in the pot) and store in the refrigerator for 3 days and in the freezer for 2–3 weeks.
i dont have a blender. can i just strain all of them?
Hi Dars, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! We recommend straining the soup if you want to make your soup similar to corn potage (Japanese corn soup) for a smoother consistency. If you are not using the blender, maybe no need to strain? We hope it works!
This tastes so good! When I was following this recipe, I was reminded why my mom never made it. There was so little liquid left after I strained, I was sure I just wasted effort for a tiny cup worth of soup or if I added the recommended amount of milk and heavy cream, it will be very flavorless. I was so wrong! It had so much umami and it was delicious!
Hi Chiharu,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your feedback!
We are so happy to hear your corn soup turned out delicious, and you enjoyed it!☺️
i have a trouble with using of heavy cream, can it be change using other ingredient such as flour like maizena or something?
Hi Ohkeshivar,
We hear other readers tried without heavy cream (replace the amount with milk) and skip Step 12. They said it worked very well and made creamy soup.
We hope this helps, and we would like to know how it goes!😉
Japanese corn soup or corn potage. If you use whole corn ears (or cobs) to slice kernels from, are they pre-boiled or raw ? The recipy does not mention that. Probably it is obvious to you. But unfortunately not to me.
I have tried some of your recipies and every time with good results.
Hi Kerstin! In Katakana (Japanese language) we use both corn soup and corn potage for this particular dish. Potage (thick soup) is considered a part of soup dish… so it’s used both way when it comes to corn soup/potage. The cobs are raw. Kernels will be roasted (step 5), and cobs will be boiled together in the stock (step 9). I’m glad my recipes come out well for you. Thank you for your kind feedback!
I am going try to make corn soup. I grew Japanese corn. Can I use over mature corn as it is blended and sieved?
Arigatou
Hi Alan! I think so?? What is mature corn like? If it tastes great, I think you can?
This recipe is amazing! I’m from Japan and this Corn Potage def. tasted exactly like the one I enjoyed growing up.
Hi Nobuko-san! Aww thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for trying my recipe! 🙂
this recipe was delicious and easy to make!
Hi Ash! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback!
I think Corn Soup invokes a special comfort to those that grew up in Japan. I definitely grew up loving this soup and would order it every chance I get. I still do when I go back to visit Japan… and always crave and wish this soup was available in the US.
Thank you for sharing this recipe – it’s exactly the “Fami-Resu” goodness I love and crave and will be enjoying with Hanbagu with Demi and Ebi Fry tonight.
P.S. For the blending step I transferred to my vitamix and everything blended beautifully – no mesh separation step was required.
Hi Hapaluvs! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! We’ll always feel nostalgic when we remember this dish. 🙂 Thank you for letting me know about the mesh separation not needed in the Vitamix. 🙂
Made it for my mom and she absolutely loved it!!! I used light cream instead of heavy cream and it turned out very good. The recipe is easy to follow, highly recommend 👍
Hi Solomiia! Thank you for trying this recipe and I’m so glad your mom enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. xo
Absolutely fantastic recipe. Roasting the corn is a must. I didn’t have olive oil so butter worked just fine.
Hi M! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. I’m so happy you liked it! I love roasting too, which adds amazing flavors. 🙂
Quarantine cooking day 80. Made this for my 1-year old. I didn’t strain it anymore as i want to have some texture (i added rice to the soup, too). And went straight away to boiling the corn instead of roasting first.
So good, my husband even asked if we could double the recipe.
Hi Anna! Wow it’s been 80 days… I stopped counting while we stay at home too. I’m glad you’re making my corn potage better so happy you’re making it your own style. Your husband is so lucky!! 🙂
Hi Nami! In Japan, what is this usually served with? I seem to remember it usually being a replacement for miso when serving yoshoku but is there any dish or sides it goes well with? Thank you!!
Hi Lucy! Yes, that’s correct! Like Hambagu, Doria, or pasta dishes. 🙂
I want to know more about your recipe.. its looked all delicious
Thank you for your kind words, Jade!
Hi Nami,
Can I freeze the soup for later consumption?
Hi Evelyne! Yes you can. 🙂
One of my not-guilty pleasures is the corn soup at MOS Burger, which I’m pretty sure comes straight from a powdered mix. Should’ve got round to this sooner! Store ran out of heavy cream so I just went with milk and considered adding some potato starch to thicken it, but it was already thick enough as I didn’t strain the soup (I do like my corn!) so fortunately no need for the starch. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Enid! I go to MOS Burger, but I never had corn soup there! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for the kind feedback. 🙂