This is the first of a series of posts on fermented cornmeal recipes. Fermenting corn is a great way to develop flavour and improve the digestibility of a rather tough grain.
Though there are technical differences between polenta, grits and hominy (including their culture of origin, method of preparation and serving style) in terms of fermentation all three are pretty much the same. What surprised me was that the corn fermented so quickly. For my first attempt I tried a standard three day fermentation which resulted in a polenta that was far too sour.
However, once I got the timing down, I made a delicious cornmeal mush that had the perfect amount of fermentation. Though cornmeal mush doesn’t sound very appealing, it is delicious served with a bit of salted butter. It is also the basic building block of both polenta and grits. So it’s easy to start any polenta/grits recipe with pre-fermentation!
PrintCornmeal Mush
Fermenting corn is a great way to develop flavour and improve the digestibility of a rather tough grain. This recipe is for polenta, grits or hominy.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6-8 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Fermented
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal (coarse, medium or fine)
- 3 cups filtered water
- 2 tbsp lactic culture (whey, yogurt, buttermilk)
- 1–2 cups water (or milk for cooking)
Instructions
- Mix the cornmeal with the water and culture in a large glass container.
- Leave it somewhere warm to ferment for 12-24 hours.
- Add the additional water and boil for 30 minutes, stirring frequently until cornmeal is soft.
Notes
- The cornmeal will either be firm or soft depending on how much liquid you add during the cooking.
- To turn it into a simple southern style grits, use milk for cooking then add 1/4 cup of butter, 2 cups of grated cheese and 1/2 cup chopped spring onion.
Keywords: polenta, cornmeal, grits, hominy
Hello Emillie, thanks for this, I want to make a gluten free bread with fermented grains. Your instructions are very helpful. Thank you. I am will try doing this with millet and sorghum grain. Like fermented teff, I could make flat breads and scones, muffins with fermented grain flour. Thank you again skaii ellen
Let me know how that goes! I have done millet, but never fermented sorghum. And if you eat flour, I have a bunch of GF sourdough bread recipes too.
Would milk kefir also work as the starter culture?
Yes!!! Buttermilk is just traditional.
Could you also just use apple cider vinegar?
You could! Or kombucha, sauerkraut juice, etc. I used dairy because that is traditional. 🙂
Would it be possible to make without cooking,only fermenting,and preserve the beneficial bacteria?
★★★★★
Corn is really hard to digest, so I recommend cooking it. Pre-fermenting helps improve the digestibility of corn, similar to using lime in masa flour, but it still needs to be cooked. If you wanted probiotic grits, I recommend cooking then fermenting afterwards. You would end up with a porridge-like consistency. Let me know if it works for you!
Thank you so much,Emillie,I did it!First I cooked cornmeal,and after it cooled down to a room temperature,I added 2-3 spoons of fermented milk in it.Next day I tried it,and it was simply delicious!And I’m sure it’s healthy too…
Glad it worked! You’ve inspired me, I’m going to try it too!
Have you tried this with Bob’s Red Mill whole grain cornmeal? I find it a little bit coarse and grainy when I used it for cornbread, but I’m a sucker for “whole grain” labels. I’m tempted to try with a finer grain, as I think that will appeal to the younger palates more. I don’t mind it grainy for myself, but the rest of the family seems to object.
I haven’t tried that brand, though it should work well, likely better than it did for cornbread. I think most cornmeal is “wholegrain”, but it doesn’t have to be a coarse grind. Maybe try an instant polenta, which is basically finely ground cornmeal.