Suam (White Corn Soup)
Creamy white corn soup
One of my fondest memories with regards to this soup is my Inang (what I caalled my maternal grandmother, meaning mom) is her commenting that most of her favorite foods I have a developed a liking for, like the suam.
Suam (swam) is a fresh corn soup that is usually made from the sticky white corn. The fresh young corn is grated or sliced thinly to release all the starch in the kernel. This is then set aside while the onions and garlic are chopped and then sauteed. The prepared corn follows, and the whole pot is seasoned with salt or fish sauce and allowed to simmer. The soup can be adjusted if it comes out too thick by adding some stock. Some like it thick and creamy, the others like it soupy.
Ate Pines got to them before I could take a picture
I remember when i was younger how my mom and my inang would choose from a big bunch of corn (usually selling as low as P20 a kilo during it’s peak!) we bought and setting aside those that can be eaten on the cob and those that would be turned into soup. Though I love the corn as is, steamed or grilled, I still prefer the soup over it at all the times. The thick gloopy texture, filled with random bites of whole corn that wasn’t sliced properly. And the ease of eating getting that flavor fix! 
Corn!
Sauteing
There came a point that I would eat it everyday when I came home from school or work and as the white corn season faded away, I had a bout of panic where I would find my next corn soup! Mommy came to the rescue when she bought home the regular sweet yellow corn and made it into the same thing. Of course it was more watery since the yellow corn’s starch level is entirely different from the white corn’s, but it was good enough. And from that point onward, we almost always had a batch of corn soup, white or yellow, sitting in the fridge, ready for consumption Just like now.
Cooking
Suam (White Corn Soup) Recipe
2 to 3 kilos of white corn
Onions for sauteing
Fish sauce, to taste
Remove the corn from the husks and clean away the hair. Using very slight strokes and with the knife almost flat to the kernels, scrape away a layer at a time until all the kernels are shredded. Do this for all the ears (and yes, it’s tedious at first) and set aside.
Start sauteing the onions, add the corn and some fish sauce. Add some water if necessary. Allow to cook through. You will get a thick and creamy corn soup.
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Check out what others are saying...[...] insane thing to do from what I have read) and so I have resorted to eating my white corn in a soup version, steamed or [...]
[...] started my dinner with the white corn soup, which I have already talked about here. The consistency is so thick, that it should be called corn chowder instead (it varies according to [...]