For such an easy-to-love dish, it's surprisingly easy to make a mistake and mess up corn on the cob . You know what the biggest mistake is, though? Forgetting to add toppings. Corn on the cob's flavor, with its gentle, buttery sweetness, can act as a base note for dozens of different toppings that add more pronounced and confident tastes.
You can lean into that sweetness by dousing it with sweet-sour sauces, go the whole hog with unexpected ingredients like jelly or caramel, or push things in totally the other direction, emphasizing sharp or salty notes to create extra dynamics. Adding toppings to corn on the cob is also a superb way to introduce new textures. While the moist snap of each bite of corn has a slight crunch to it, rolling your corn on the cob in crunchier ingredients can make it way more interesting.
You don't need to stick to just one topping, either: A combination of ingredients can be added to corn to make street food favorites like Indian corn on the cob. To get the lowdown on the best toppings to use, we spoke with Chef Dale Talde , two-time "Top Chef" contestant and author of "Asian-American," and Executive Chef Thomas George of Bombay Brasserie in San Francisco. With decades of experience between the two, Talde and George are well-placed to talk all things corn.
1. Chopped bacon can give your corn smokiness and deep flavor Everyone knows that bacon can make plenty of foods better, and corn on the cob is no exception. "If you're looking to infuse your corn.