I am marinating some carnitas for tomorrow’s dinner, and I want to do street corn on the side. I’ve got frozen roasted corn (it’s actually not bad) and limes, but realized I don’t know which kind of cheese to order. The google results are all from US sources, and mostly contradictory. Or just “They’re all the same.”
Available from my local store:
Oaxaca
Cotija
Queso Fresco
Queso Fresco Ranchero (not sure if this is branding or a different type?)
Panela
So question one is Which of these would be best for a roasted street corn dish with chili lime seasoning? I want something dry and mild, like a less tangy feta, perhaps?
And, the less time-sensitive question is, what are the differences between these cheeses and what should I know in order to use them well? Any others I should be looking for?
IME cotija is what you want. Same if you were making arepas. Depending on where in the USA you live, you may have good, bad, or indifferent stuff to pick from.
Though none of the choices would be terrible, the traditional choice for elote would be cotija, queso blanco or queso fresco. Almost all Mexican cheeses are mild. Fresh cheeses are moist. My personal favourite is manchego, for snacking or crackers.
I’ll add my +1 to cotija - what’s nice for a lot of applications is that it’s generally crumbly (by hand or with a fork) making nice, slightly salty and mild crumbles that (if crumbled fine enough) can all but be sprinkled onto a number of dishes, including street corn.
Larger crumbles are preferred to top carnitas, or a bowl of green chile pork, or on top of street tacos for a last minute garnish.
Oaxaca is probably most similar to a hybrid of mozzarella and monterey jack.
Queso Fresco (Ranchero is a brand name) is a crumbly fresh cheese- it’s great stuff, but it doesn’t melt or anything like that.
Cotija is similar in texture to queso fresco, but is made differently, and is much more strongly flavored- kind of salty, and a bit funky, but not nearly feta-grade funk. Kind of like a wetter parmesan maybe?
Panela cheese is one I don’t recall having any personal experience with- it sounds like a more solid queso fresco.
Cotija is what you want for the street corn dish for sure.
I’ve had no problem finding Cotija at my local Kroger when getting ready to make Esquites or Elote. I did read somewhere that Feta is an acceptable substitute if Cotija can’t be found. Feta and Cojita are similar in texture and ‘crumbliness’, but yeah, the extra funkiness of Feta seems like it would be less than ideal.
Conversely, a stringly, melty cheese like Oaxaca would likely be a bad choice for elote, because the cheese needs to be crumbled and coat the ears of corn almost like breadcrumbs.