Healthier popcorn

Does this even qualify as a recipe? We think it does. At least it counts as a useful trick to rewrite the horror story printed on the packaging of microwave ‘poopcorn’. This recipe is almost as easy as pushing a couple of buttons and at least you’ll know exactly what you’re eating. It is easy to master and once you do, you will not be going back.

It was shamelessly plagiarized from a video by one of our absolute favourite content creators, the inimitable (heh, get it?) Brian David Gilbert. He made this video about the way he makes what he calls ‘pepcorn’, but we are not so brave (or should we say reckless?). Try it his way if you dare, or only with salt if you’re vanilla like us. He just inspired us, as he always does, to be our better selves and savour the corny things.

Brian makes pepcorn in a wok covered with tinfoil, which sounds like a good idea, but we don’t have space to put a wok in our house. We use a not-comically-large pot with a lid. Some covering is necessary if you don’t want greasy corn all over your surfaces and orifices.

You may have noticed it’s the only recipe where we don’t use garlic… wait. Two words: garlic salt.

Ingredients

• Half a cup corn kernels
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or another vegetable oil
• Fine salt
• Other seasoning if you’re feeling creative or reckless

Directions

1. Heat the oil in the pot over medium. Be careful not to overheat the oil. When it’s getting warm, add 2 or 3 kernels, and place the lid. When they pop, the oil is ready.
2. Remove the popped kernels, feed them to whoever is hungrier, add the rest of the kernels, and place back the lid.
3. With the help of oven mitts or a dishcloth, grab the pot while holding the lid in place, and shake it over the fire or stove. Repeat this frequently so the kernels don’t burn, but not too often so they don’t get too cold (channel your inner Goldilocks). If you have a ceramic or induction stove, be careful to pick up the pot before shaking it so you don’t scratch the cooktop.
4. Let the kernels do their thing until the pops become less frequent. Then, turn off the heat and let them rest a minute (away from the stove) before taking the lid off. Our lid is transparent and we’ve perfected our calculations to maximize the amount of popcorn we can make in that pot. Half a cup of kernels yields a reasonable amount for two people if you manage to pop most of them (but we usually make a cheeky little more). It is time for you to go on your own adventure of pop-discovery. March forth and make us poproud.
5. Salt to taste.