Jamaican Hominy Corn Porridge

Jamaican Hominy Corn Porridge

Hominy Corn is dried corn kernels. It is popularly used in Jamaica to make a hominy corn porridge. We make it nice and tasty using coconut milk, condensed milk for sweetening and several other spices. It usually takes a while to prepare as first you have to boil or pressure the hard kernels until they become soft before adding the rest of spices, coconut milk and condensed milk to finish it off. However, it is well worth the wait. What I like most about this porridge is that it has texture and something to chew.

The very first time that I tasted Hominy Corn Porridge was as a young child from my grandmother in Florida, where we were living at the time. I clearly remember the day she was making it for my siblings and I to try and her telling us about this popular Jamaican corn porridge that she too enjoyed as a child.

I also remember that it took a long time to cook as we patiently waited but not fully understanding why at the time. However, when it was finished I thought it was well worth the wait.

I loved the taste and texture of the condensed milk sweetened corn porridge with the lumpy corn kernels that are soft and chewy with the flavor combinations including coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.

Now that I am living back home in Jamaica and tasted different variations of this porridge and also experimented with making my own version of this traditional dish to suit my taste, this is the recipe I have came up with.

I personally don’t like thick porridges, so mine may be thinner upon finishing, but keep in mind that porridges thicken as they cool. Feel free to adjust the liquids, sweeteners, and spices to your preference. I hope you will enjoy my version.

Ingredients

• Hominy Corn – Usually sold dried in bags on store shelves. However, I also now see them canned.
• Water
• Coconut Milk
• Salt
• Condensed Milk
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla Extract
• Flour – diluted in a little water to thicken (not pictured), some people use cornmeal instead.

How to Prepare Hominy Corn Porridge

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1. The faster and recommended method of cooking the hominy is to start with a pressure cooker, placing your hominy, salt and water in and pressuring it for about 40 minutes, but checking after 20 minutes to see if more water is needed.
2. After the 40 minutes, taste a few kernels to see if they are soft enough for you, you can add more pressuring time if needed or continue with the cooking process.
3. Add your coconut milk, spices, and vanilla and continue to simmer.
4. Dilute flour with a little water and add to porridge while stirring. It should start to thicken a bit.
5. Add your condensed Milk to sweeten to your desired taste. I personally don’t like my porridge too sweet or too thick.
6. The other method is to use a medium deep pot where you first measure out the amount of hominy you want to cook and the water to start boiling it until it is soft enough to the desired consistency.
7. This method could take you at least an hour or more for the kernels to soften.
8. At this point, you would start to add your coconut milk, flour to thicken and other spices and coconut milk.
9. This is best served immediately as it will thicken up on sitting. However, you can add a little more milk to thin out and re-heat. 

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Jamaican Hominy Corn Porridge

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Dianne

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Hominy Corn
• 5 Cups Water or more as needed
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 2 1/2 Cups Coconut Milk Or 1 cup of milk can be used in place of 1 of the cups of coconut milk.
• 2 Tbsp. Flour diluted in 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp. Condensed Milk
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Instructions

1. **Pressure Cooker Method- Rinse the corn and place in pressure cooker with 5 cups of water and salt. Cover, and on high heat, when you start to hear the loud pressuring sound from the pot, start timing for 20 minutes.

2. Cool down the pot and open to check the water level, add more water if needed and pressure again for another 20 minutes. Open and taste a couple different pieces if soft enough.

3. Once corn is tender, add coconut milk & stir. Dilute flour in water and add to pot stirring 1-2 minutes until slightly thickened or desired thickness.
4. Lower heat and add spices, vanilla, and condensed milk. Sweeten to your desired taste.

5. ** Standard pot method - Rinse the corn and place in 5 cups of water with salt in a large pot and bring to a boil on high heat. Boil for about an hour or until the corn is tender. Once corn is ready, continue to follow above directions.

Recipe Notes

Porridge will thicken as it cools. Dilute with more milk or water as needed to thin out.