Esquites Americano

Have you heard of elote, the beloved Mexican street food? Mexican street vendors sell you a char-grilled cob of corn, slathered with crema or mayonnaise or sour cream, cilantro, chili powder, cheese, lime juice, and maybe a few other ingredients. People rave about it! I’ve never had it, mostly because I haven’t spent much time in Mexico, and also because I don’t live in a big city with tons of street vendors. Also… because I haven’t ever been able to wrap my head around mayonnaise on my corn on the cob. I’m sure it’s amazing, because everyone says it’s amazing, but I haven’t quite made that mental leap yet.

But here’s the thing. Turns out, Mexicans also make a delicious dish called esquites, which as best I can tell, is basically elote in a bowl. For some reason, combining all those exact same ingredients in a bowl makes way more sense to my crazy brain. So I thought I’d dip my toe in and try esquites, hopefully as a gateway. My concoction is adapted from this one. We call our version Esquites Americano, solely based on the addition of the American favorite – bacon. We ate this as a dip with tortilla chips, but it works as a side as well. It’s as delicious as people say!

Esquites Americano

(Adapated from Serious Eats)

Ingredients: 

• 2 strips of bacon, chopped into small lardons
• 4 ears of corn
• 1 jalapeño, finely diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp ancho chili powder
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 3oz cojito (or feta) cheese

Instructions: 

1. Place the bacon in a large pan, over medium heat. Cook until the bacon is crispy, and then remove to the side.
2. Remove corns from its ears. Add the corn, jalapeño, and garlic to the pan. Increase heat slightly to medium-high. Stir to coat in the bacon fat.
3. Cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until corn begins to brown.
4. Combine ingredients from the pan in a large bowl with the cilantro, ancho chili powder, lime juice, and mayonnaise. Stir to combine well.
5. Refrigerate until dip has sufficiently cooled.
6. Then add cheese, crumbled or roughly chopped to the dish. Stir and enjoy!

Serves 4. I would double or triple if using as a party appetizer.