COPPEREsquites recipe
Corn kernels simmered with epazote and served in a cup, finished at the last moment with lime, mayonnaise, cheese and chilli.
Ingredients
- 500 g sweetcorn kernels
- 30 g butter
- 0.5 white onion
- 1 serrano chilli
- 2 epazote
- 250 ml water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 80 g cotija or feta
- 2 limes
- 1 tsp chilli powder
How to make Esquites
- Finely chop the half onion and the serrano chilli.
- Melt the 30 g of butter in a wide pan over high heat. Add the onion, chilli and the 500 g of corn and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, letting some kernels toast and catch a few brown spots.
- Pour in the 250 ml of water, add the 2 sprigs of epazote and 1 tsp of salt. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until the corn is tender.
- Remove the epazote. Spoon the corn with a little of its cooking liquid into cups.
- Top each cup with mayonnaise (3 tbsp in all), the crumbled 80 g of cheese, the juice of the 2 limes and the chilli powder. Taste: it should be sharp and salty.
What is Esquites?
Esquites is a traditional dish from Mexico, simmered in one pot, and takes about 25 minutes from start to finish. It is built around sweetcorn kernels, cotija or feta and butter. The recipe below uses 11 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Esquites take?
At 25 minutes it is quicker than 98% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 5 steps, the longest being 15 minutes.
Any tips for making Esquites?
Simmer the corn with the epazote in a little water: that cooking broth seasons every kernel and keeps the cup moist.
How Esquites compares
At 25 minutes, Esquites is among the 20 quickest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. Hard to find elsewhere: sweetcorn kernels (1), serrano chilli (1) and cotija or feta (1).
Copper documents Mexico alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.