Until I moved to Beijing, I was unaware of corn in all its forms. A walk around any UK supermarket and you have two choices: tins of sweetcorn or yellow corn on the cob. A veg stall at a local market in China however, will be piled high with not just the familiar yellow ears, but pearly white ones, deep black-purple varieties, burgundy cobs and even multicoloured kernels glinting like polished beads. The texture, too, is quite different. Rather than the soft and juicy sweetcorn or the UK or US, many Chinese varieties are dense, starchy and satisfyingly chewy - more like filling staple grain than a side vegetable.

Corn, or yùmǐ (玉米), has only been grown in China for a few hundred years. It was introduced from the Americas in the 16th century and quickly found a lasting foothold in Northern regions where the short growing season and drier climate made corn a reliable alternative to rice. By the Qing Dynasty, it was a vital crop, and today, it’s one of the big three staples of the North, along with wheat and millet.

Across the North, corn has more culinary uses than in the UK. It is commonly steamed whole and served as an alternative to buns of pancakes, but it is also ground into cornmeal for rustic buns (窝窝头 ｜ wo wo tou), a type of flatbread known colloquially as ‘Beijing pizza’ (胡饼 | hu bing) or a type of crispy round pancake eaten as a street snack in Shaanxi. A cornmeal porridge, sometimes mixed with millet or rice, is a frequent sight on dining tables too, and in autumn, where there’s a glut of corn, it’s turned into corn milk.

Corn milk does not sound appetising at all, but trust me, a few sips and I was a convert. It’s creamy, smooth and slightly sweet. I prefer a mix of the whiter corn and yellow corn, as there’s a deeper flavour, but experiment with whatever you can find. Corn milk can be served warm, or refrigerated, where it will thicken slightly and become a refreshing drink perfect with a little Beijing pastry.

Serves 3-4