Darra - Lebanese Roasted Corn Recipe

Back home in Lebanon during the summer, one of the treats we had was when a funny little man would come to our village, setup his brazier with charcoal and sell Darra (Arabic for roasted corn). If you didn't get there early, it was gone. 

Here's my take on it and while I don't have access to the Mediterranean for the salt water to soak the corn, it still smell/tastes the same. 

I have on numerous occaisions taken the corn off the cobs after they have finished roasting and served them in a bowl with no additional adornment but it's not as good as right off the cob. 

Serves as many as you prepare ears for

Ears of corn for the people invited
Large bucket of water to easily hold the corn
A handfull of sea salt 

Pull off the husks and remove the silk of each ear of corn. 

In the bucket which should be about 2/3 full of cold water, disolve the sea salt. 

Place the corn cobs - with the husks pulled back - into the salted water so that they're all standing with the stem end up. Let them soak at least an hour. 

Setup your brazier with charcoal and get it good and hot. I've tried this with a gas BBQ and while it worked, it didn't have that right taste. 

Take a few ears of corn out of the bucket and place them onto the the grille and keep turning them every few minutes to allow them to roast evenly (a little charring is highly encouraged) and then serve hot. There's no need for butter or anything else. 

Keep doing this until the ears are all gone and you've driven your guests crazy with the smell/sight of it. 

One variation is to keep the husks on during the soaking, roast the corn for about 10-15 min with the husks on which steams them, then pull the husks off and continue the roasting process.