One of our favorite restauraunts while I was training in NYC was a tiny cafe in SOHO called Cafe Habana. Based on the original restaurant in Mexico City, this cafe specializes in home-style Latin food with unique Cuban and Central Mexican accents.
They had great dishes and Cuban sandwiches, but were renown for their Cuban/Mexican grilled corn. Perfectly grilled and slathered with mayonnaise then sprinkled with cayenne chili powder, grated cotijo cheese, and finished with fresh squeezed lime. It was like heaven biting into this corn for the first time...a wonderful mix of smoky sweet, rich, spicy, and tangy flavors exploding in your mouth.
Now on the west coast, we can't wait till corn season to make our recreation of this dish. Traditionally Vietnamese style grilled corn is topped with sweet scallion oil which is also delicious, but when we saw sweet white corn on sale for 3 for 99 cents, we had to get it for the mothers day barbecue and make this NYC favorite. Personally, we love the original, but fearing some weight issues, we offer a mayonnaise substitute with simple garlic butter (who knows if this is an improvement?!) You can also use light mayonnaise if you like.
Cuban/Mexican Grilled Corn
Printable Recipe
- Grated cotija cheese (can be found easily here in Southern California. If you can't find it, substitute with grated Queso Fresco or Italian parmesan or Greek feta)
- Mayonnaise
- Ground Cayenne chili powder
- Lime wedges
Start by brushing on the mayonnaise. Sprinkle desired amounts of cotija cheese and cayenne chili powder. Finish with squeeze of lime.
For a slightly different variation or substitution for the mayonaise, try Garlic/Jalapeno butter:
Garlic/Jalapeno Butter
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 2 of cloves peeled garlic
- 1 jalapeno deseeded
You may never want to eat corn with just plain butter ever again!
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Seeing the MX grilled corn on the street for the first time when we moved to Los Angeles was crazy! We had no idea what the 'white stuff' was on the corn cobs. We've yet to try it, but it combines so many of our faves, that it has to be good. Nice pics too!
ReplyDeleteOh my, this looks insane!! we will do this one for sure. Thanks, s
ReplyDeleteI am about to post tonight some photos from a restaurant in San Francisco area, and this type of corn is one of them! Please stop by my blog tomorrow and take a peek.
ReplyDeleteYour idea of using the chopsticks is great! Like your photos too!
Lori Lynn
This is SO GOOD!! Had it for the first time out here in LA at a farmers market - never knew what tasty goodness I was missing before! Can't wait to make it myself.
ReplyDeleteOMG - I wish I could pick those babies right off the page and devour them.
ReplyDeleteThese look so flavorful! Fantastic photos!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cookincanuck.com
duodishes--we've seen them around the streets of LA too, but most of them are boiled, not grilled. it just doesn't tastes the same. maybe we'll see you guys around :)
ReplyDeletes.stockwell--please let us know how you like it when you do!
lori--we'll definitely check out your site. we're interested to see what you think about it.
laura--it's definitely easy to do and such a crowd pleaser at bbq's. let us know how it turns out!
tricky--haha! We would share if we could!
cookin'canuck--thanks! they really do look and taste flavorful.
I'm smilling, just of remembering the wonderful flavor of elotes asados back home. Grilled (or Steamed) Corn is an staple of ferias and fiestas de pueblo (fares and bbq).
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks quite loyal to the original one, the only difference is we do not eat it with butter at all.
btw, amazing picture.
h
This sounds delicious and we are making it from your recipe tonight (parm cheese and garlic butter)
ReplyDeleteWill link to this through FaceBook 'cause I know I am going to get mobbed for your recipe!
John in Atlanta
heidileon--thank you for kind comments and the language lesson!! Glad to make you think of home and hope to have you as a frequent reader and commenter!
ReplyDeleteJohn--Please let us know how it turns out!!! We'll love to know and hope to have you as a frequent reader and commenter!
Cafe Habana is one of my favorites too, and I always try to recreate their incredible corn at home. I'm in Missouri and we have cojita cheese here, but queso fresco is also available. It's very similar and a little cheaper.
ReplyDeletehttp://hecooksshecooks.net
You just put corn on a stick and topped it with gorgeous flavors. Seriously seriously awesome!
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative and delish idea, I love the spice in it. This is one of the famous Indian street food too :) Yumm.
ReplyDeleteMmmm... It's like summer on a stick! I can't wait for grilling season to arrive up here.
ReplyDeleteBrittany--Great idea with the queso fresca. Thanks for reading our blog!
ReplyDeletejoy the baker--thanks for reading our blog. It's definitely easy to do and tastes as good as it looks!
Ann--Go Michigan! We both went to school at UM so we love our michigan readers. Would love to see the Indian version of grilled corn.
Annie--You should copyright that phrase! Summer on a stick...we love it!!!
Thanks so much for this recipe. We also love Cafe Habana (and actually went on one of our first dates there!) so it was fun to re-create this at home
ReplyDeletehttp://carlastastytreats.blogspot.com/2009/10/10209-steak-w-cuban-corn-potatoes-and.html
carla: thanks so much for your note! we're so glad you liked it...it's always great when a food reminds us of fond memories!
ReplyDeleteOh god, this looks SO good!
ReplyDeleteHi, This type of Corn looks to be a winner. a BBQ Smokehouse in Toronto listed Cuban Corn on its menu and I had not heard of it, a google search led me here.
ReplyDeleteI will have to try this for myself. Once I do you can find it on my BBQ Blog oshawalaser.com/Blog though it may not be til Corn is in season here. By the way one observation it is a bad idea to wrap food with Saran wrap and put in the Microwave as chemicals will come out of the plastic wrap, use wax paper or silicone parchment instead.
Fred