What is the difference between hominy and corn

Most people think of hominy in its whole-kernel form, but it also comes ground. Hominy grits is coarsely ground hominy. Masa is finely ground hominy.

Cornmeal from non-nixtamalized corn cannot be mixed with water to form dough, but cooks can use masa to make tortillas, arepas, tamales, and other dishes. Seasoned whole hominy is an easy vegetable side dish. Most cooks, however, use hominy as an ingredient in other dishes, such as salsas, soups, and stews, especially posole, a beloved fragrant, flavorful stew that can upstage a pot of chili. Texas Caviar.

Peanut-Pumpkin Stew with Hominy. Green Chile-Turkey Soup with Hominy. Red Chile Pork Posole. The lime or lye bath adds alkaline to the corn, softens kernels, loosens the hulls and makes the kernels expand. This gives the corn a chewier texture and makes it possible to knead ground hominy into a dough.

Hominy is commonly used to make corn masa, notes The Kitchn. Masa is the key ingredient in foods such as corn tortillas and tamales. Cooks can grind hominy to make grits.

People also eat it on its own or in foods such as stews. Hominy then turns into what looks like a bean, due to the doubling in size that the nixtamalization process causes.

If you have ever had posole, a Mexican stew, you will see hominy in it. If the hominy is not nixtamalized, then you will be stuck with basic kernels that cannot produce the same products as hominy can. My Recipes says that the "giant corn" is usually found in cans in the Mexican aisle, whereas regular corn is found in any kind of canned food section. It is quite interesting to realize all of the things you may have thought were just made from your average canned corn, are actually made by a scientific process that really just gives you an oversized bean from corn.

A tasty oversized bean, that is. The difference in cooking the two is vast, as one is simple and the other is not. Regular field corn can be cooked straight on the cob using a pot of hot water, grill, or even a microwave if you want to go college-dorm-style for dinner via Delish.

Taking it off the cob allows for it to be added to stews, casseroles, or whatever else you may want to insert a bit of corn gold. The cooking process for hominy, however, varies greatly, depending on what you want to do with it.

Similarly to canned corn, you can also find canned hominy via The Spruce Eats. You can eat it much like regular corn, with salt, pepper, and butter. But unlike regular corn, you rinse hominy like you would dried beans before cooking.

Hominy is just as versatile as corn, both being in multiple kinds of dishes and stews. It's hominy that's ground into masa, or dough flour, which is used for making tamales and tortillas via The Spruce Eats. Given their mutual roots, perhaps it's no surprise that hominy and corn are quite similar in nutritional value.