Although Mexican street corn is often cooked over a charcoal grill by a street vendor, this recipe made in the oven or a convection toaster oven will give you elotes that taste just as good.
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I’ve written before about how to fry your own chicharrones with the kind you buy at the store that you have to cook so they’re edible. But if you can’t get those at your local Mexican market, you’ll at least be likely to find them already fried and packaged to buy—usually alongside the chips, Takis, and that kind of stuff. All you have to know is how to prepare them!
I get a lot of questions from my non-Mexican friends and readers about this snack because they’ve never seen it before, or didn’t know how to prepare it properly. It’s actually really simple, and these things are super addictive….
I love a good, healthy snack, and I’m always tempted to stop whenever I see a fruit cart on the street. Throughout Mexico, you’ll find these street food vendors with all different seasonal fruits that they’ll cut up and put in a cup and top with chile powder, Tajín, chamoy or some kind of bottled salsa.
RELATED RECIPE: Ensalada Xec (Mayan citrus and jicama salad)…
When I got an air popper several years ago, I stopped buying microwave popcorn. The beauty of freshly popped popcorn made with an air popper is that you can make as little (or as much) as you want, and you can dress it up differently each time you make popcorn! And you’re not getting any chemical additives either, so you won’t feel unhealthy eating it. If you don’t have an air popper, you can also easily make the popcorn on the stovetop without any oil.
RELATED: Mexican snacks for a crowd
I love to mix and match flavors all the time, but one of my favorite combinations is melted butter, chile powder, queso cotija and a little squeeze of fresh lime juice. Sometimes, I substitute the chile powder for a liquid hot sauce such as salsa Búfalo or Tapatío. If I’m feeling like something really spicy, I might even use a habanero salsa!
RELATED: Roasted chickpeas with Tajín
The wonderful thing about this recipe is that since the queso cotija is already salty, you really don’t need to add any extra salt. If you do like your popcorn pretty salty, though, I recommend swapping the unsalted butter for salted before you go sprinkling any more salt on the popcorn.
RELATED: How to prepare chicharrones de harina
I love to munch on these spicy and tangy palomitas while watching all kinds of different movies, from classic cine mexicano to 80s movies to animated flicks with the younger members of my family.
RELATED: A guide to Mexican limes
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Turn a street food favorite into a family movie night snack! Make your popcorn spicy and tangy with grated queso cotija, chile powder, melted butter and a little squeeze of lime juice!
If you can’t find key limes (the tiny kind), you can substitute with the juice of 1/4 of a large lime.
If you don’t have an air popper, you can make the popcorn on the stovetop without any oil. You’ll need a deep pot with a lid. Pour the popcorn kernels in the bottom of the pot and heat over medium heat, gently shaking the pot every 30 seconds until the popcorn begins to pop. It will take around 4-5 minutes before the popcorn starts popping. Once it does, gently shake at 10 second intervals until the popping slows down. Remove from heat, shake a little bit more, then allow to sit for about 1 minute before you remove the lid. Most of the popcorn should be popped, with very few kernels left.
Tostadas are my go-to dinner after a long day at work when I get home late and am too lazy to cook. I always have various ingredients on hand to make them, and the great thing is that you can be creative based on what you’ve got. There’s no wrong combination.
Lately, I find myself in a big rush to get home from work in time to get dinner on the table. Tostadas are one of my secret weapons because I can prepare some of the ingredients in advance so that come dinnertime, I can just throw everything together. I do all my grocery shopping on the weekend, which means I also need to take the time to prepare myself for the week and portion out lunches and dinners. I’ll often grill meat (or sometimes buy a rotisserie chicken), cut it up and store it in the refrigerator. This version pictured above is simply grilled rib eye seasoned with salt and pepper, shredded Chihuahua cheese and served with salsa verde.
Another version I like to make has a base of refried beans smeared on the tostada, pulled roasted chicken (pollo rostizado), shredded lettuce and a little avocado topped with crema Mexicana and salsa. My cuñada likes tostadas with cueritos (see a tostada de cueritos pictured here) and manitas de puerco, neither of which are on my top 10 list of favorite kinds of tostadas, but that’s what’s so great about them; there’s something for everybody. You can’t say, “I don’t like tostadas” if you haven’t tried more than one kind.
In Mexico City, I love to visit Tostadas Coyoacán in the mercado Coyoacán because everybody can get what they want and be happy. It’s inexpensive, quick and there’s a variety of choices. One person can get camarones (shrimp) and another can get pato (duck). Or they can get one of each! One of my personal favorites there is the tostada de cochinita pibil.
Tell me in the comments: How do you assemble a tostada?
I spotted these cebollitas being prepared to grill at a street stand last year during a trip to Mexico City. I parked right near this little puesto in Colonia Juárez while running an errand and couldn’t help but stop to admire them. As the grilling season kicks into full swing here, I find myself looking at this photo over and over again despite the fact that I took it more than a year ago, so I decided to finally share it. I love cebollitas, or any grilled vegetable, really. But the kind grilled al carbón can’t be beat.
›› Learn how to prepare cebollitas with my simple recipe.
›› Pair them with a dish! My favorites are Mexican chimichurri steak, tacos de rib eye and arrachera borracha.
On any trip to Mexico City, I look forward to my first visit to any of my usual taquerías. Not only because I need to satiate my appetite for tacos (read: stuff myself to practically the point of no return), but also because I get an order of chicharrón de queso while I wait.
It’s a delicate, crunchy salty treat—the name basically translates to cheese cracklings.
For years, I never considered making my own chicharrón de queso. Not because I thought it was too hard, but because I don’t have a flat top griddle like the taquerías do. I thought the hot griddle was the key to the texture and the high heat was responsible for the ability to mold it; but one day I had a nagging craving that forced me to experiment and I discovered it can be done at home in an easy way that doesn’t sacrifice any of the things that you’d expect from a good chicharrón de queso….
I get a lot of questions from friends and readers about this snack because they’ve never seen it before, or have never prepared it themselves. And although they may look intimidating, they’re extremely easy to make at home.
Chicharrones de harina are a dense, dried, flour-based wheat snacks that puff up when they’re fried. (So, no, these are not a healthy snack. And yes, they contain gluten.) …
I love grilling. The smell of the charcoal, the crackling sound of the fire roasting the food and the anticipation of what’s about to land on my plate. And whenever we grill in Mexico, my suegro (father-in-law) is the king of the barbecue.
Cebollitas asadas are so simple and easy to make (and almost totally impossible to mess up even if you’re not a grilling pro), it’s the single dish that most reminds me of a Sunday parrillada in Mexico.
RELATED RECIPE: Calabacitas con elote
You can add as much or as little lime juice and salsa Maggi, a Worcestershire-style seasoning sauce, or soy sauce as you like – it all depends on your taste buds. The Maggi sold in the U.S. doesn’t taste the same as salsa Maggi sold in Mexico, so I sometimes substitute low sodium soy sauce because we always keep some in the cabinet or the refrigerator.
Not only is this dish often served at barbecues and family gatherings, you can also often find them at little street food stands around Mexico. I especially love to pair this side dish with tacos de rib eye and my Mexican chimichurri-marinated flank steak.
RELATED RECIPE: Calabacitas rellenas
A note for my gluten-free friends: Salsa Maggi contains wheat gluten, wheat and wheat bran among its ingredients. A suitable alternative for you to be able to enjoy this dish is Kikkoman’s gluten-free soy sauce.
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Cebollitas are a classic side dish staple at any Mexican barbecue.
Keywords: onions
The weather is getting warmer and that can only mean one thing: an explosion of Mexican street food carts popping up on every corner in the neighborhood where I do all my grocery shopping.
Among the carts that make my mouth water the most is one from which the sweet smell of roasted corn wafts through the spring air – and through my car window enticing me to stop for a quick treat. Yep, you guessed it: esquites.
The key ingredients of this antojito are roasted corn, lime juice, salt and dried ground chile piquin. And then there are the customizations and variations on the snack that can make it so unique from place to place. Sometimes sauteed with butter or onions and epazote, it can also be topped with mayonesa or crema Mexicana. And my favorite touch: a sprinkle of queso cotija, a dry, crumbly cheese with a little bite.
It’s usually served in a Styrofoam or plastic cup on the street, but don’t let the simple presentation fool you. Serve this at a spring or summer backyard barbecue and impress your guests with this simple treat they’re sure to love. Or just make it at home as a weekend snack!
Part of the beauty of this dish is that you can make changes or adjustments to your own tastes very easily without compromising any kind of measurements or balance so long as you follow the base of the recipe by roasting the corn either with butter or by adding a little water to the corn once you’ve cut it to help create a little juice. The portions of the lime juice, chile and toppings is up to you. The end result should be a sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste in every bite….