What it is
Taiwanese grilled corn (烤玉米) is a whole cob cooked slowly over heat and coated in layer after layer of dark, sticky sauce. Stalls use starchy local corn rather than sweet corn, so the kernels are chewy rather than juicy. It is a standard night-market snack, and also sells from roadside stalls and mobile carts.
Where it came from
Early grilled-corn stalls mostly used a white variety, White Corn Tainan No. 22 (白玉米台南22號). White corn from Tainan was improved during the Japanese colonial era, and its soft, chewy ivory kernels were what older generations grilled. Later stalls switched to waxy (glutinous) corn, sold as pearl corn (珍珠玉米), which has a sticky, springy bite and takes up sauce well. Today it is the most common choice. Some stalls have lasted for generations. A charcoal stall in a Chiayi County village had been run by the same couple for more than 70 years, according to a 2022 Supertaste report.
How it is made
Some stalls boil the cob in its husk before grilling. Over charcoal the vendor keeps turning each ear so it cooks evenly, and some stands use rotating spits. Some brush on lard first, then coat after coat of sauce. The base is usually garlic, shacha (沙茶, a savoury paste of dried fish and shrimp), sesame paste and lard, plus each stall's own spices. Some vendors score the kernels with an iron brush so the sauce soaks in. Sweet corn is avoided because its water and sugar make it a poor griller.
How to eat it
It is eaten hot, often while walking round a night market, and queues at popular stalls can be long. Vendors will use more or less sauce on request, and some offer spicy (麻辣) or curry flavours. Some stalls price by the size of the ear, so ask before choosing.
Around Taiwan
- North
- Raohe Street Night Market in Taipei has rotisserie corn stalls that baste the turning cobs with lard and shacha.
- Central
- Electric grilling, with the cobs standing upright, is popular in central Taiwan, especially with younger customers.
- South
- In Garlic Village (蒜頭村), Liujiao Township, Chiayi County, Xiaxiang Guzaowei (下鄉古早味烤香腸烤玉米) grills pearl corn and sausages over charcoal only, brushing on lard that makes the flames leap.
