photo: delish
MEXICO
In Mexico, vendors sell this messy, cheesy, utterly delicious grilled corn from carts. To bring this street food to the home kitchen, we broiled the corn on the cob instead of heading out to the grill, first brushing it with oil to keep it from drying out.
Mayonnaise makes a good substitute for Mexican crema, especially when it’s dressed up with cilantro, garlic, lime, and chili powder. Hard-to-find traditional Cotija cheese is great, but salty, crumbly feta is just as good. To keep it from crumbling right off the corn, we mixed it in with the mayonnaise before slathering the mixture all over the charred corn and broiling it for another few minutes.
MEXICAN STREET CORN
Nepal’s neglected crops
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 35 minutes
6 ears corn, husks, and silk removed, stalks left intact
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1-ounce feta cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper
Adjust oven rack 5 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush corn all over with oil and transfer to prepared sheet. Broil corn until well browned on 1 side, about 10 minutes. Flip corn and broil until well browned on the opposite side, about 10 minutes longer.
Meanwhile, whisk mayonnaise, feta, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a bowl until incorporated. Remove corn from oven and brush evenly on all sides with mayonnaise mixture. (Reserve any extra mayonnaise mixture for serving.) Return corn to oven and broil, rotating frequently, until coating is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve corn with lime wedges and any extra reserved mayonnaise mixture.
