Esquite: Spicy, Creamy Mexican Corn
I love a good elote loco: Corn-on-the-cob (elote) slathered in crema (Mexican creme fraiche), drizzled with lime juice, and dusted with cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.
They are delicious, but certainly messy to eat. Normally I don’t mind being a slob in the name of good eats, but when I’m cooking for other people, I like to provide less messy options. That’s what led me to try a version of the elote loco that could be eaten with a fork. It was a huge succes, and I thought I’d hit on a great idea.
Well, I had, but so had Mexico hundreds of years ago. They call the dish esquite, and when I was in Mexico – not even a week after I made this dish – I saw it everywhere. So, while I don’t get any points for originality, I’m still glad to be able to share this tasty dish with you.
If you have a good Latin American grocery in your neighborhood, I’m jealous. But if not, don’t sweat it. Everything in this dish has a good American substitute. Parmesan works instead of cotija, and sour cream or mayo works just fine in the place of crema. If you or your eating companion are grossed out by these kind of creamy condiments (a lot of people are), I’d still urge you to try it. Just add the cream/mayo in moderation.
I’ve tried a lot of different techniques for taking corn off the cob, and the best way is carefully so as not to lose any fingers. Be sure to do it in a bowl rather than on a cutting board, or kernels will go everywhere. Also, unless you have a very sharp chef’s knife – I don’t – you might have better luck using a steak knife or other small, serrated knife.
Seriously, though, just be careful.
Esquites (Elote Loco in a bowl.)
Kernels from 4 cobs of corn
1/2 Tbs. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
salt
~1/2 cup crema (or mayo or sour cream)
1/2 cup cotija cheese (or parmesan)
Juice of 1 lime
1. Heat a saute pan with a small amount of vegetable or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add corn kernels, cayenne pepper, cumin, and pinch of salt. Cook until kernels begin to brown and then remove to a large mixing bowl.
2. While kernels are still warm, add remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust for consistency and flavor.
3. Serve, not mentioning mayo unless someone asks.
I’m looking forward to making this dish! But I’d like to make a suggestion: try Fage. I use Fage (greek yogurt) instead of sour cream. Even the non-fat version tastes exactly as regular sour cream and I substitute it all the time. One cup of non-fat Fage has 120 calories so I imagine the calorie content will go way down, as with your esquite leftovers.
Looking forward to trying this sometime.
As I said in my quesadilla post, I am a huge proponent of using yogurt in place of sour cream. Should work great here…
I had to leave the cayenne pepper out (not by my choice). It came out extremely delicious!!! MMMMMMMM
oh I did use less spinache – seemed overwhelming and I had less than a lb of baby spinache in a bag.
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