Kitchen scoop: Chili powder adds sizzle to Mexican-style corn
If you've ever traveled to or lived in a place where street food is popular, you've no doubt sampled street corn. Various styles exist, but the messy, must-have-two-napkins goodness is all the same.
Today's recipe is based on a Mexican-style street corn. You can use parmesan if you can't find cotija cheese, and sour cream works well as a substitute for the Mexican-style cream. Some people even substitute mayonnaise for the cream.
Street corn is usually steamed and then grilled over an open flame before slathering on the toppings, but it's just as easy and effective to parboil the corn and then fry it on the stovetop.
You can use frozen corn-on-the-cob, but nothing beats the juiciness of corn fresh from the field, so hurry before corn season is gone.
When I was shooting the video for this recipe (you can watch it on kitchenscoop.com), one of the crew said he'd never eat plain corn again after seeing how easy this is to make and enjoying his portion of the goodies. Now that's an endorsement if I ever heard one!
Ÿ Alicia Ross is the co-author of “Desperation Dinners!” cookbook series. Write her at Kitchen Scoop, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106, or tellus@kitchenscoop.com. More at the Kitchen Scoop website, kitchenscoop.com.