Esquites is a Mexican street snack of grilled corn, onion, chilli, lime and mayonnaise. With corn being a staple ingredient in the food of the Americas, my version incorporates a little of my Chilean origins. Merquen is a smoked chilli pepper which is used as a traditional condiment in Mapuche cuisine in Chile.
Ingredients and Methods
INGREDIENTS
- 4 corn cobs
- 30 mL canola oil and 2 tbsp extra
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 medium sized brown onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup loosely packed coriander, parsley and dill leaves
- 1 jalapeño chilli, coarsely chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lime, plus 1 lime cheek
- 100g whole egg mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp chipotle mole (see below)
- 1 tbsp goats curd
- 1/4 tsp Merquen powder *
Chipotle mole
- 2 chipotle chilli in adobo *
- 300gm roasted piquillo peppers
METHOD
Place corn cobs in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 25 minutes, drain and cool. Preheat a chargrill or BBQ to high heat. Once cool enough to handle remove all silks from corn and grill until corn is well charrred. Cool, cut kernels from cob and set aside. Pour oil in saucepan and gently fry onion and garlic with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar until soft but not coloured (6 - 8 minutes). Place corn kernels, fresh herbs, jalapenos and onion mixture into a food processor and blitz until well combined but with a few whole kernels still remaining. Set aside. Place oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add corn mixture, lime juice and mayonnaise and heat for 2 minutes. Season to taste. Spoon into a serving dish, adding extra mayonnaise, goats curd and chipotle mole on the top. Sprinkle with Merquen powder. Serve with a lime cheek and tostaditas.
Chipotle mole
Using a stick blender blitz chipotle chilli and piquillo peppers into a puree. Store in airtight container. Keeps for 5 days.
* Merquen powder and chipotle chilli in adobo are available from good Latin American delicatessens.
Chef Geo Tapia
