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Mexican Street Corn

mexican street corn

Here at the tail end of July, if there’s one thing that you can’t turn around without tripping over, it’s tomatoes.
[Just thought I’d get the obligatory tomato reference right out of the way. Tomatoes! Tomatoes! Tomatoes! Okay. Now I can move on.]
We do have a lot of tomatoes in Cincinnati, but we also have corn. Big, beautiful, sweet, juicy ears of corn. From now through September (and sometimes beyond), bins stuffed with annoyingly partially-peeled husks will be everywhere.

(On a side rant, it’s just worms, people. If you find a worm on the tip of your ear of corn, you can take comfort in the fact that your purchase probably wasn’t hosed down with chemicals. A worm will not kill you; chemicals might, over time. Cut off the tip, wash the ear, and be thankful there are organic local farmers who can still afford to grow SU-type corn (i.e., the corn we humies munch off the cob, not the GMO Grade 2 feed corn that evil corporations are using to rob the farmers blind and slowly destroy our food supply).

Um.

So, what’s SoupAddict’s point? She had one. It was around here a second ago, before she got herself all mentally riled up over evil corporations ruining our food supply.

Oh … wait … right … street corn.

Mexican street corn is a popular treat served by street vendors who slather delicious ears with cheesy, mayo-y sauces. This isn’t health food. And you’d be completely correct to scold SoupAddict for taking a perfectly lovely vegetable and covering it with condiments. But after you finish scolding, you should try this anyway. Corn season is fairly long, and ’round about September, most people start itching for some other topping besides butter, salt and lime juice.

You don’t even need a recipe: just toss the ingredients together, and it works.

mexican street corn

The sauce is super-easy. You don’t even have to measure most of the stuff. A big heaping tablespoon of your favorite mayo. Slightly less of sour cream. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, garlic powder and your favorite chili powder (try ancho, chipotle, or homemade. Finish with a biiiig squeeze of fresh lime juice.

mexican street corn

Mix it up. Done. Make it ahead and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.

mexican street corn

To give the Mexican street corn extra flavor, spice it up with chili powder. Pour some canola oil onto a large plate and sprinkle chili powder over it. Roll each of corn into the mixture to coat.

mexican street corn

mexican street corn

Grill the cobs over high heat until charred in spots.

mexican street corn

Slather up each ear of corn with the sauce. The heat of the corn will melt the sauce a little bit, letting it get down into the crooks and crannies, and making the sauce less slathery-like.

mexican street corn

Mm mm mmmm. Crispy, squirty kernels plus sweet bits of charred Mexican street corn. The sauce is sweet and tangy, slightly spicy.

But, People, this stuff is definitely not First Date Corn.

The first time SoupAddict tried this corn, she went the entire meal with two identical stripes of sauce across each cheek. Foodie warpaint. Cute on a six-old-year-old. Lame on SoupAddict.

SoupAddict would personally never serve corn-on-the-cob on a first date anyway — there’s not enough floss in all the world.

“I vahnt to kiss you, Dahling.”

“Uh, no thanks. Have some floss.”

Susan

Monday 16th of August 2010

Made this yesterday and everyone loved it! Thanks!

Ingrid Meyers

Sunday 8th of August 2010

This looks amazing! Love the pictures! Yum!

SoupAddict

Sunday 8th of August 2010

Thanks!

SoupAddict

Thursday 5th of August 2010

LOL!

Lentil Breakdown

Monday 2nd of August 2010

I think you've got your dating philosophy backwards. That's how you get them to kiss you because they'll want to devour all that yummy corn on your face. Great photos!