Viet-Cajun Corn Tart

As the final days of fall begrudgingly slip away from us, so do the last corn harvests of the year. Sweet, juicy ears of corn grow all summer long just to leave us when the cold winds start to roll in.

To hold onto the last bits of corn season, enjoy a simple Viet-Cajun Corn Tart. This flakey bite will have you reliving the dog days of summer!

Aside from being incredibly tasty, I’d have to say that one of my favorite parts of this recipe is the flavor riff. It didn’t occur to me until recently that Viet-Cajun isn’t an incredibly common cuisine. As a Vietnamese kid who grew up in the south, I remember Viet-Cajun food fondly.

I mean, c’mon! How could you not enjoy a Vietnamese-style crawfish boil? You’re sitting at a huge, plastic-wrapped table with piles of herb-topped, limey seafood, surrounded by friends and family. It’s a treat and an experience.

To start this recipe, I started off by portioning out all of the aioli spices: salt, sugar, garlic powder, mustard powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and most importantly, MSG.

Using the Forge to Table Nikiri, I finely minced the ginger and garlic. After that, zest outside of an orange. Save the rest of the orange for later, we’ll use it while emulsifying.

This recipe uses a fun technique called “pasting” to extract as much flavor as possible from our ingredients.

On a large cutting board, use a spoon to mix together the aioli spices, orange zest, garlic, and ginger. Once combined, bring the mixture to the near edge of your cutting board. Using the face of your knife, smear the ingredients into the board with a back and forth motion.

By smearing the zest and spices into the ginger and garlic, you’re doing two things: expressing all of the oils from the zest and breaking down the structure of the ginger and garlic. In simpler terms, you’re making a super flavorful garlic paste! Pasting these ingredients will also help smoothen the aioli!

To make the aioli, add egg yolks, fish sauce, dijon mustard, and the spiced garlic paste to a blender. With the orange you set aside earlier, juice half into the blender and blitz on low until the mixture is smooth.

Once smooth, turn the blender to high and slowly stream in your oil. Make sure that the oil is being streamed in slowly. Adding in too much oil too fast will overwhelm the emulsion, making it loose and runny. When the aioli is thick, set aside and add salt to taste.

Now it’s time to char the corn! I 100% recommend grilling your corn to get the best flavor, but if that isn’t in your capability, then charing over the range will do just fine. Crank that heat, grab your tongs, and char that cob!

I like to char my corn straight up. I’m talking no frills, just fresh, husked corn. Beware, if your corn is super juicy, it may pop when exposed to high heat for an extended period. But don’t worry! Extra popping, just means an extra tasty corn tart in the long run!

Let your corn cook down before cutting. Here, I drove my Nikiri down the ear of the corn to remove those charred kernels. Now let’s move on to assembling the tarts.

If you’re using frozen puff pastry, allow the dough to thaw for 15 minutes before cutting. You want the dough to be just soft enough to cut. Puff pastry that is too warm will become too pliable to hold shape.

Using a Forge to Table paring knife, I cut 6 tarts per puff pastry sheet. I like to score a border around the edge of the tart before adding anything to create a puffed edge around the pastry.

Spread a small spoonful of aioli in the center of the tarts and pile on the charred corn. Reserve the remaining aioli for a final post-bake drizzle. Brush a thin layer of egg wash across the border of the tarts to give the final bake a golden crust. Sprinkle smoked paprika across the tart and flakey salt along the edges before baking. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.

Once the tarts come out, allow them to cool down for 10 minutes before moving on. The tarts are best enjoyed warm, so drizzle on the remaining aioli and garnish with fresh cilantro before your first chomp!

Viet-Cajun Corn Tart

Hold onto the last bites of corn season and bake this spicy-savory-sweet pastry. Its flakey bite will warm you up like the dog days of summer!

Recipe and Photography by Asia Vo (@southeats.asia)

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Viet-Cajun Aioli

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1-inch knob of fresh ginger

• 1 orange, zested

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ tablespoon sugar

• ½ tablespoon black pepper, ground

• 1 teaspoon mustard powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ½ teaspoon MSG

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 2 each egg yolks

• ½ cup neutral oil (vegetable or canola oil)

Corn Tart

• 2 ears corn, fresh

• 1 sheet puff pastry, frozen

• 1 egg (for egg wash)

• Smoked paprika, for garnish

• Flakey salt, for garnish

• Cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. VIET-CAJUN AIOLI. With a Forge to Table Nikiri, finely mince the garlic and ginger. Zest a full orange, set the bare orange aside for later. Mix together minced garlic, minced ginger, salt, sugar, black pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, MSG, and orange zest.

2. PASTE. Place the garlic spice mixture on a cutting board and using the face of the knife, in a back and forth motion, smear ingredients together until they become a paste. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to emulsify the ingredients.

3. EMULSIFY. In a blender, add egg yolks, fish sauce, dijon mustard, juice from half an orange, and the Viet-Cajun paste and blitz until smooth. Once smooth, turn the speed to high and slowly stream in the oil until mixture emulsifies. Adjust salt to taste and set aside.

4. CHAR CORN. Remove the husk from the ears. Using a pair of heatproof tongs, char corn by holding it over an open flame (a broiler works if you have an electric stove). Allow ears to cool slightly before cutting off charred kernels

5. PASTRY. Cut thawed puff pastry into 6 even pieces and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Score a ¼ in border around the pastry’s edge.

6. PREHEAT. Preheat your oven to 400F degrees while you assemble the tarts.

7. ASSEMBLE TARTS. Spread a small spoonful of aioli onto the center of the tart and pile charred corn over top. Reserve remaining aioli for later. Brush egg wash around the border of the tart. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and flakey salt on the edges to finish.

8. BAKE. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the sheet before dressing.

9. FINISH & ENJOY. Drizzle slightly warm corn tarts with Viet-Cajun Aioli, garnish with cilantro leaves, and enjoy!

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