Recipes

Corn with Lime Juice and Chile Powder

  • Serves

    serves 6

This spicy corn snack, popular in Mexico City and its environs, is often topped with mayonnaise. The word esquites is derived from an indigenous Mexican word for toasted corn, izquitl.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups fresh white corn kernels (from about 10 ears)
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
  • 1 stalk fresh epazote (optional), leaves torn
  • 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  • 12 tsp. powdered piquín chiles
  • Salt

Instructions

Step 1

Combine corn, butter, chiles, torn leaves from epazote, and 1 1⁄2 cups water in a medium pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until tender, 10–15 minutes. Set aside to let corn and its cooking liquid cool slightly.

Step 2

Add queso fresco, lime juice, powdered piquín chiles, and salt to taste and toss well. Divide corn and liquid between cups.

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