Does Anybody Know Anything About Cornsilk Tea?

[baymule]

I have been reading up on cornsilk tea and the harvesting directions say to harvest the silks before pollination has taken place. Really? Really? Then I get no corn!! Why can't I use the silks that are on the corn when I shuck it? Are they not as good? Anybody know?

 

[Britesea]

I know this is chiming in kinda late but....

Frying the corn silk produces a wonderful tangle of light crispness. Gather the light, clean corn silk from your shucking (cut off any brown ends). The trick is drying the strands completely in a dehydrator or a 175-200⁰F oven and then flash frying them at 400F. If your oil isnt hot enough the silks will be stringy and tough, but at high heat they are crisp, delicate and delicious. Try seasoning with salt, cayenne, nutmeg, cumin, smoked paprika and lime zest and using them to make nests, garnished with a variety of fresh herb leaves and cradling a soft-cooked egg. You could also use fried corn silk as a crunchy garnish to eat out of hand or over creamed corn. Or wrap them around shrimp as a seasonal twist on the cruise-ship classic, coconut shrimp.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Just ordered some for DH...he's been getting up several times a night ... hope this helps!

 

[Marianne]

 

[baymule]

Marianne, I clicked on your response thinking you had posted an answer, but all I got was this:

 

[Corn Woman]

You can harvest the silk after you harvest your corn. I cut off the dry silk and keep the pretty golden silk for tea.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I"m not saying I'm right, cuz I'm pretty new to it, but I just used the whole thing. As far as looks go, I'd say it would look better to cut off the dry, outter silk though. My textbook didn't specify. My grandpa used to grow a lot of corn and if I had access to that amount of corn today, I'd do as Cornwoman said. But just buying maybe 20 cobs, I saved it all.
I just changed the way I buy corn....its no longer in a can or frozen, cuz I lose the benefit of the silk.

 

[~gd]

Not into herbal teas but I would think that if It was really important your reference would tell you WHY it was important. If you had a whole cornfield to work with the loss of a few ears wouldn't hurt. take one ear per stalk and all the goodies would go to the other ears on the stalk and might not effect your total yield.

 

[baymule]

Thanks ya'll! Our HEB grocery store has corn 4 ears for $1, but with a limit of 8. I bought some yesterday and will go in a few minutes to get some more. I have corn growing in my small garden, but It is still some time away from being corn! I'll let ya'll know how it goes with the store bought corn.

 

[Corn Woman]

I cut off the dry silk because there could be a bird splat that yucked it up. just how my mind works.