Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)

Although I've wanted to make these for a long time, this recipe was inspired by eating a delicious cup of Mexican street corn from a food truck in Michigan City last weekend. The timing was good, as the local farmers selling sweet corn in the Pizza Hut parking lot have just set up shop. Now that I've tried it, I'm convinced this is a fantastic way to eat corn. As the name suggests, elotes are a street food in Mexico. Of course, they are also quite a mess to eat, so the version in a cup, known as esquites, are also an option. You could simply follow this recipe, but cut the kernels off and mix in the coating ingredients. Either way, making street corn is very easy and a great way to shake up your corn-eating experience.

I bought two new ingredients for this recipe. Crema Mexicana, or Mexican cream, is a cultured cream mostly interchangeable with the French crème fraîche. Compared with sour cream, the flavor is milder and the texture is looser.

Cotija is a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is salty, and squeaks a little when biting in, kind of like cheese curds. It can be crumbled by hand. If unavailable, substitute another hard, crumbly cheese. A lot of recipes use parmesan. If doing this, I would definitely try to get a good, strong Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy. I found both of these ingredients in the regular supermarket. The crema was located with some other Mexican products, such as tortillas and queso fresco, while the Cotija was in the cheese section.

Ingredients

• 4 ears corn
• 1/4 cup crema Mexicana or crème fraîche
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• Chili powder to taste
• 1/2 cup crumbled cotija or parmesan
• 1 lime, quartered into wedges

Instructions

Remove husks and hair from the corn, but leave the stem attached. This will act as a handle once the corn has been dressed. Preheat the grill and brush oil on the grate. Grill the corn on a relatively high flame with the cover down. Turn occasionally until all sides are browned. 

While the corn is cooking, mix the crema and mayo together. Once the corn is done, spread the mixture all over the corn. Dust with chili powder, then sprinkle the cheese all over. You may want to press the cheese in so that it sticks to the cream. Finally, squeeze the lime on the corn.