I just found out about this stuff and am thinking about making some this weekend but I have a question - is the corn supposed to be warm or hot when served or is room temperature appropriate? The YouTube videos I’ve seen have the corn being boiled and then put aside while the other ingredients are prepared.
Look up elotes. I’ve always had it warm but not so hot everything just melts on it.
My inclination would be hot enough to melt the cotija but most pictures online show it as powdery.
We usually have it warm. Have had it cold leftover but it’s not as good.
It’s hot like most corn dishes.
I’d eat it the way you’d just eat buttered corn.
Well, if you’re having the cup style, the large amounts of butter and crema are going to cool things down a bit. If you’re having it on the cob (my favorite way), it’s usually going to still be pretty warm.
Esquites and salad form.
I don’t think it melts; it’s more akin to feta than any other cheese I can think of.
Having purchased it many, many times around the corner from my late first wife’s family home, it has to be hot enough to melt the crema, but not hot enough to make you regret purchasing it. It was always immediately edible.
Ok. Now that I have the serving temp figured out, what about cooking time for corn? I’ve seen: boil for 15 minutes, boil for 30 minutes and grill for 10 minutes. Boil for 30 minutes? Wouldn’t that make a for a pretty mushy corn? I normally put the corn in the water, bring to a boil and let it cook for a few more minutes. BTW, a local grower in New Jersey is selling what I think they are calling sugar corn. Usually, local corn isn’t available until August. I have second hand info that this corn is an early harvest variety and when gone, there will be no more corn of any kind until later in the summer. It was very good. The person working the register couldn’t tell me anything about the stuff.
If possible, you don’t want super sweet corn (I know it’s almost impossible in US grocery stores).
Yeah, that seems extreme. When I do it, it depends on the freshness of the corn. Usually 5-10 minutes enough, but fresh corn in September or so from a farm could be ready in just a couple of minutes. Just use your judgement. Or use a test ear of corn and see how long it takes for that one to cook up to your desired doneness level and cook the rest of the batch that long.
I’m used to American sweet corn, so I admit, I like it best when made with that, particularly Mirai corn from nearby Harvard, IL. I don’t like the starchier varieties, even if they’re more like Mexican corn. And I actually like it best as esquites eaten with a spoon instead of on the cob. Probably because it makes for an excellent cookout side dish that you can make in bulk ahead of time.
If you’re going to grill the corn, I don’t see much point in boiling it at all. We’ve made great elotes at home (and just great corn on the cob) by only grilling it.
I usually just husk it and grill it directly on the grate, because I like the charred bits.
It doesn’t melt, exactly, but it does sort of… fuse.
Being lazy and since it’s available, we do the frozen elote we can get at Costco. Its cup-style, and the roasted kernels are in a bag with lumps of crema/chili. I spread it out on a baking sheet and shove it in the oven for 3/4 the time recommended, pull it out and stir the partially heated mixture to distribute the now thawed goop evenly, sprinkle the cotija from the supplied packet on top, and put it back in to finish off.
If I’m a little slow and was hasty in applying the cotija, the bigger clumps are now one mass, albeit frangible, and kind of brown on the edges.
When we buy elote on the cob from the guy who passes through the neighborhood, he just smears Mexican mayo on the cob and sprinkles cotija and chili powder on top. The cotija doesn’t have a chance to melt before it’s devoured.
I forgot to mention upthread that Mexican corn isn’t sweet corn. Our American corn is going to change the flavor a lot.
I once joked that Mexican corn is field corn, but a Jalisco 'Doper took offense at that. But, yeah, Mexican corn tastes like our field corn. Starchy, not sugary.