You Shouldn't Try This Viral TikTok Corn Ribs Recipe. Here's Why
Recently, #cornribs has been trending throughout TikTok. Essentially, they are cobs of corn cut to resemble ribs. Today goes into further detail, adding that after cutting through the corn from tip to base to induce a rib-like curve, they either air fry or deep fry them. The appeal, as food blogger Farrah Jalanbo explained to Today, may be due to the neater aesthetics of eating a quartered cob instead of rounding your way over the surface of the whole cob. "One huge factor is that these aren't a mess to eat because the entire corn on the cob doesn't get all over your face," Jalanbo said. "I think people are loving them because they're fun, delicious and so quick to make."
However, Sara Tane admitted in a piece she wrote for The Kitchn that they were very nervous in cutting the corn: "If you're on the fence about your knife skills or you have dull knives, I would genuinely advise you not to cut your corn like this. I don't think it's worth the risk." If you do go ahead with cutting through the corn, it is safer to do so in the aforementioned tip-to-base fashion, because if you attempt to slice it on its side, either the corn will roll away and thereby threaten your fingers with the knife, or you may end of crushing the kernels you intend to roast.
Does the reward warrant the risk?
Considering how corn ribs are trending, however, many must deem their fingertips a price worth paying.
"You know how whenever you eat corn on the cob you get stuff in your teeth?" Mon Mack, whom Independent Online credits with sharing the video that set off the trend, rhetorically asked. "Yeah, well with these you don't, and I've gotta say, they taste even better this way." Tane disagrees, stating that despite how interesting it was to see the corn curve, the flavor itself was not impacted. You could produce the same tasting corn without the risk.
If, however, it is the act of eating the cob that puts you off, Food Storage and Survival has a good guide to removing the corn from the cob, so you can eat it with utensils. Stick a drill into the base of the corn, hold over a bucket, and hold a cutter still while the corn rotates, making the kernel removal easy. The beauty of this method is that since the hand holding the blade remains motionless, cutting your hands is not a problem.