Esquites
Prep: 20 Minutes | Cook: 20 Minutes | Resting Time: None | Total: 40 mins
Makes 8 Servings
Ingredients
2 Cups Corn (fresh works best), about 3 ears worth of kernels
Oil, as needed to cook corn
1 Jalapeño, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
¼ cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
½ cup Cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime
Chili powder to taste (1-2 tsp)
Recipe Summary
Remove corn from ear. Toast in a pan with oil
Prep ingredients; dice jalapeños and garlic, chop cilantro, crumble cotija cheese, and juice lime
Mix together corn with above ingredients as well as mayonnaise, salt, and chili powder
Serve hot alone or with chips
Recipe
If using fresh corn, remove the kernels from the cob. This can be done easily by first shucking the corn. Once the corn is shucked, stand it vertically on the cutting board so the stalk side of the cob (bottom of the ear) is on top. Take a large knife and cut from the base of the kernels down to the top of the ear. Work your way around the ear of corn and save all your kernels in a bowl.
If using canned corn, make sure to allow the corn to drain completely before cooking it. The excess water will cause the corn to take longer to cook, so draining it beforehand will ensure you get a nice char on your kernels. Additionally, adding wet corn to a hot frying pan with oil will cause a lot of oil splatter that can potentially burn you.
Add oil to a frying pan and allow to heat up. Add corn kernels to the frying pan and cover with a splatter guard. Occasionally stir them to make sure they don’t stick and so they cook evenly.
While the corn is cooking, remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeño. Finely dice the jalapeño and garlic. Retain in a large bowl.
Roughly chop the cilantro and mix it with the jalapeño and garlic. With your hands, break apart the cotija cheese into small crumbles.
When the corn kernels are starting to turn a nice brown, they are done cooking.
In the bowl with jalapeño, garlic, and cilantro, add the roasted corn, mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chili powder, salt, and lime juice. Mix until uniform.
Esquites is best served hot, but can also be enjoyed cold if made in advance. To reheat leftover esquites, you can either microwave it or reheat it in a frying pan.
Why the Recipe Works
The combination of smoky corn, savory cotija, creamy mayo, freshness from the garlic, acidity and a little bit of sweetness from the lime and the perfect level of spice makes esquites extremely multi-dimensional. The flavors blend perfectly and give you everything you want in a dish - salty, slightly sweet and spicy, and savory.