Suam na Mais is a Filipino soup made with fresh corn kernels, shrimp, and spinach. It’s creamy, nutritious, and delicious on its own or served as a side dish.
Suam na Mais was one of the first recipes I posted on the blog in 2013. I am updating it today because a) the old photo was ugly and needed a makeover, b) The old version of the recipe uses yellow corn, as I couldn’t find native white corn. Although the soup was delicious in its own right, it lacked the thick and creamy consistency of a good suam na mais, and c) I recently learned the traditional seasoning is shrimp paste and not fish sauce.
What is suam
Suma na mais is a Kapampangan soup made of fresh native white corn, shrimp, chicken, or pork and leafy vegetables. It’s also known as ginisang mais or sinabawang mais in other regions of the country.
What you’ll need
- Corn– While yellow corn has a tasty flavor, it doesn’t have the viscosity of the white variety, which helps thicken the broth naturally. If you live in the U.S., look for glutinous corn cobs in the freezer section of most Asian supermarkets. If you are in the Philippines, look for mais lagkitan in the wet markets.
- Shrimp– you can also use diced pork or chicken
- Raw shrimp paste– I used fish sauce in my old recipe, but I recently learned from my aunt that the traditional flavoring for this Kapampangan soup is bagok (shrimp paste).
- Water- for extra depth of flavor, you can use rice washing, chicken or shrimp broth
- Leafy vegetable– fresh spinach, chili leaves, ampalaya leaves, or malunggay (moringa) leaves.
How to thicken the broth
- Use native white corn called lagkitan. After shaving off the kernels, scrape the pulp and add to the soup to naturally thicken the broth.
- If using another type of corn, you can thicken the soup with a cornstarch slurry. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth and whisk in the broth until thickened.
How to serve and store
- This creamy corn and vegetable soup is delicious and filling on its own or as a main dish with steamed rice and your favorite fried fish or grilled meat.
- Store leftovers in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Reheat in saucepan until completely heated through. Add water or broth to loosen consistency and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as needed.
More Kapampangan recipes
Ingredients
- 4 native white corn (glutinous)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
- 6 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch spinach, stems trimmed
Instructions
- Shuck the corn cobs by removing the husks and silks. Using a sharp knife, cut the stem ends.
- In a large bowl, stand an ear of corn up and using a small knife, thinly cut the kernels off from top to bottom. Rotate the corn when done with each section to get to the next.
- In a small bowl, scrape the sides of the cobs using a spoon to extract the remaining pulp and milky juice.
- In a pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened.
- Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, just until color changes.
- Add shrimp paste and continue to cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add the cut corn and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 to 3 minutes or until corn turns translucent.
- Add water and bring to a boil, skimming scum that floats on top.
- Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 7 to 10 minutes or until kernels are tender.
- Add scraped corn pulp and juice and stir to distribute. Continue to simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes until soup thickens.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add spinach, pushing down the leaves into the broth. Turn off heat, cover, and allow the residual heat to cook the spinach just until wilted. Serve hot.
Notes
- For a creamy texture, use glutinous white corn or lagkitan. If unavailable, thicken the broth with a cornstarch slurry (dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1/4 cup water)
Video
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Tom L Lucas says
I surprise my wife with it today, then found out she never had it growing up in Cebu. All that work. Lol. She did like it.
I been making your recipes for awhile for her. Thanks
Tom
V says
Hi, thank you for the recipe! Do you have the old recipe available as well? I like both of them but my kids prefer the previous version. Thank you!
Shiella Grace Lapid says
thanks for the recipe… I am sure that my kids will love this ” mais dish “…
Lalaine Manalo says
Hi Shiella, did you kids like it? 🙂
Asma says
I can use any kind of corn because I remembered my mother when she cook this she used white corn…but I don’t have here white corn only the yellow corn I can use that..and also I can put shrimp instead of chicken or meat?
Lalaine Manalo says
The white glutinous corn is preferred but you can use yellow corn if the white variety is not available. You can just thicken the broth with cornstarch slurry. 🙂
Natty says
I tried this tonight for dinner, substituted the leaves with ampalaya (bitter Mellon) leaves from my backyard garden. Wow, so good. Thank you.
Lalaine says
Thanks for the feedback, Natty! I am glad you enjoyed it. I can just imagine how good it tastes with fresh produce straight from the garden 🙂
Mylles says
I tried it and replaced spinach to malunggay leaves instead, definitely good!! This is the recipe what i’ve been looking since i was in the US..
Lalaine says
I am glad you liked it 🙂
lhei330 says
Hi Lalaine,
can’t find native white corn in my place, can I use sweet corn instead? And is it okay to blend the corn rather than grate tnem?
Lalaine Manalo says
Yes, you can use sweet corn and blend them to help thicken the soup. Or you can use cornstarch slurry. 🙂
Lovely says
I will try this tomorrow. Thankyou.
Lalaine says
Enjoy!
Monica Capuchino says
Can you use regular corn from a can or frozen corn?
Lalaine says
Hello Monica,
The corn kernels from the can are actually different from the fresh “native” corn used in suam na mais as they are sweeter in taste. I suppose you can use them in a pinch but please note that the consistency and flavor will not be the same.
madelaine says
I will try this but will substitute with shrimp. Thanks for sharing.
Lalaine says
What a delicious idea! Will try that next time. Thanks for the tip 🙂
Cathy says
thanks for this recipe! I tried this tonight but changed it a bit, doubling the amount of corn and eliminating the chicken. it was very good! 🙂
Lalaine says
Thanks for the feedback, Cathy 🙂