Paraguayan Corn & Cheese Soufflé (Chipa Guazú)
Every family has its own recipe for chipa guazú - which usually lives in the matriarch’s head. I tweaked this recipe from a family version I found online. Traditionally, chipa guazú is made with lard, but I’ve used corn oil to lighten it up a bit. Feel free to use different types of cheese and baking dishes, as some people prefer a dense, almost mushy consistency, while others like a thinner casserole with a crusty, browned top.
Ingredients
- 1 large white yellow onion finely diced
- 8 ears corn kernels removed (scrape each cob over bowl of kernels when finished to extract all “milk”)
- 1 cup corn flour available at specialty food stores or cornmeal
- 1 to 2 cups grated melting cheese such as Havarti or Jack
- 1/3 to ½ cup corn oil plus extra for greasing baking dish
- ½ to 1 cup water
- Pinch Kosher salt
- 6 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup milk half-and-half, or cream
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F degrees. Coat 9-by-13-inch baking dish with just enough oil to form a thin film.
- In a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat, sweat onions until translucent. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine corn, onions, corn flour, cheese, corn oil, water, salt, eggs, and milk. Mix well using a wooden spoon. Alternatively, mix in a stand mixer. The batter should have an oatmeal-like consistency; if it’s too runny, add a bit more corn flour.
- Pour batter into prepared dish and bake about 40 minutes to 1 hour, until top and sides are golden brown and center is set (it shouldn’t jiggle when you shake the dish). The final dish should have a soufflé-like texture, rather than be cakey (a toothpick inserted into the middle won’t come out clean). Serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
Adapted from Recipe adapted from reciplex.com
Laurel Miller
Laurel is a contributing editor at culture and a food and travel writer based in Austin, Texas. She also serves as editor at Edible Aspen.
