There seems to be a small “meme” of popcorn videos going around. First there was this one from “roadbikegel”, then Ian Mills tried once and again.
I regularly cook popcorn for my kids, and have never seen the point of buying “microwave” popcorn – it always seems to come out with half the kernels burnt. And those big bags of pre-popped corn you can buy just taste stale and horrible. A half kilo of corn kernels will last for months, and can be bought from many supermarkets and “weigh and serve” places.
So here’s the way I cook popcorn:
- start with a “non stick” (teflon coated) pan if you can. It’s just much simpler.
- add a dribble of oil and water. The oll is to carry the heat to the popcorn; the water is to hold the oil at 100C while the rest of the pan comes up to temperature. Without the water it’s much easier to burn the corn.
- sprinkle an even layer or kernels across the bottom of the pan. Don’t let them get more than one kernel deep.
- turn on a hot ring, and keep an eye (and ear) on it. The whole process only takes a few minutes.
- when the popping begins to stop, turn off the heat, shake the pan to allow any remaining unpopped kernels to drop to the bottom of the pan and pop.
- serve quickly. If you see any burnt ones, remove them.
We prefer to eat our corn as it comes, but some people seem to like sugar, salt, cinnamon, or whatever.
