Elotes - Mexican Street Corn
Now that I live in Central Illinois, I am surrounded by corn fields. They remind me of the days when I was a kid and we used to visit Zacatecas and have picnics by the fields. We would break the corn right off of the cornstalk, and straight to a hot grill. They were so tasty that you could eat them just like that!
There are few things as tasty as fresh corn, and if you want to dress it up and make it something incredible and indulgent, nothing gets better than Mexican street corn! If you are ever in Mexico or L.A., I highly recommend that you locate the nearest elotero (AKA Elote Man) and order one (or two).
Now, if you're in my current situation and aren't lucky enough to have a local Elote Man, you can try my recipe for Mexican Street Corn. I also recommend bringing this to your next potluck or cookout. I guarantee you will be the queen of the ball!
Note: If you can't find cotija cheese, the next best thing is freshly grated parmesan cheese. As far as powdered chile, if you can find can't find powdered chile piquin, a good substitute is cayenne, just use sparingly.
Mexican Street Corn
Makes 4
Ingredients
4 ears of fresh corn
salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup Mayonnaise
2 cups cotija cheese (or parmesan, see note above)
salt
Limes
Toppings
Powdered chile (preferably piquin, see note above)
Cilantro, finely chopped
Chipotle Mayo (recipe after directions)
Directions
If the corn still has the husk, remove and pull off the silky threads. Place the corn into a large pot filled with boiling salted water. Cover the pot and let the water return to a boil again, then turn off the heat and keep the pot covered. After about 5 minutes, remove the corm.
Brush each ear of corn with melted butter, then with a flexible spatula, generously cover the corn in mayonnaise. Place the cotija in a medium bowl, and pour over the dressed corn, until completely covered in cheese. Repeat with all of the corn. Place the dressed corn on a large plate and season by sprinkling all of them with salt and a squeeze of lime.
For toppings, sprinkle the desired amount of powdered chile over the dressed and seasoned corn, along with cilantro if using ( and if using chipotle-mayo, squeeze on before the cilantro). If you are using the chipotle mayo (I highly recommend), place the mayo in a large ziploc bag (and cut out a small opening from a corner) or squeeze bottle, and squeeze over corn.
Serve immediately with lots of napkins!
Chipotle Mayo
Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
2-3 chipotle chiles from 1 can of chipotles in adobo, plus 1tbs of adobo sauce
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Directions
Place all ingredients in the jar of a blender and blend until smooth, and all of the chipotles are chopped. Pour into desired container depending on use.
