Chef Lupita
Coditos con Camaron Sinaloenses
Sinaloa's pinata-and-wedding pasta salad. Elbow macaroni, small Pacific shrimp, mayo, crema, and the brine from a can of pickled jalapenos. Always cold. Always next to the frijoles puercos.
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Ensalada de Coditos Sonorense
Created by
Sonora's mandatory carne asada side: elbow macaroni folded into a smoky orange dressing of chipotle, mayonnaise, and crema, studded with ham, corn, and celery, and chilled until the flavors marry.
Salads
Mexican
BBQ
Potluck
Picnic
25 min
Active Time
12 min cook•2 hr 37 min total
Yield10 to 12 servings
This is Sonora. Specifically the carne asada table, the weekend ritual that anchors social life from Hermosillo to Caborca to Nogales. The carne asada is the centerpiece, the flour tortillas are mandatory, and ensalada de coditos is the side dish that nobody questions. If you show up to a Sonoran backyard with no coditos, you have shown up wrong.
Do not let anyone tell you this is American macaroni salad in disguise. The dressing is the giveaway. Mayonnaise, yes, but cut with crema mexicana and stained smoky orange with chipotles en adobo. That color is not decoration. It is the line between coditos and the pale mayonnaise salad served at gringo picnics. The chipotle pulls the dish across the border and plants it firmly in the Noroeste, where smoked dried chiles, dairy, and wheat all live comfortably together. Sonora is cattle country and wheat country. The flour tortilla makes sense here. The crema makes sense here. The coditos make sense here.
The ham is jamon de pierna, the celery is finely diced, the corn comes off a grilled ear when corn is in season and from a thawed bag when it is not. Sonoran grandmothers cook with what is in front of them. I learned this dish from a senora in Hermosillo who told me the secret was the rest in the refrigerator. Four hours, minimum. The pasta needs time to drink the dressing. Make it in the morning. Eat it in the afternoon when the meat comes off the grill. No me vengas con atajos.
Ensalada de coditos belongs to the broader 20th-century absorption of Italian dried pasta into northern Mexican home cooking, a process accelerated by the Sonoran wheat economy and the proximity to United States food distribution networks during and after World War II. The chipotle-and-crema dressing is the regional fingerprint that distinguishes the Sonoran version from both American macaroni salad and the milder mayonnaise-only pasta salads found in other parts of Mexico, and it reflects Sonora's longstanding use of smoked dried chiles in everyday cooking. Within the carne asada tradition, recognized as a defining cultural practice of the Noroeste, ensalada de coditos occupies the same non-negotiable side-dish slot that potato salad holds at an American cookout, but with a flavor profile that no American picnic table would recognize.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried elbow macaroni (coditos)
Quantity
1 pound
kosher salt for the pasta water
Quantity
2 tablespoons
olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Mexican mayonnaise (Mayonesa McCormick con Limon preferred)
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
crema mexicana
Quantity
1 cup
chiles chipotles en adobo
Quantity
3 to 4
finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
fresh lime juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
good-quality ham (jamon de pierna)
Quantity
8 ounces
cut into small dice
cooked corn kernels
Quantity
1 1/2 cups (from 2 ears, or thawed frozen)
celery ribs
Quantity
3
finely diced
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
finely diced
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and finely diced
red bell pepper
Quantity
1/2 cup
finely diced
ground chiltepin (optional)
Quantity
for finishing
flour tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving with the carne asada
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried elbow macaroni (coditos) | 1 pound |
| kosher salt for the pasta water | 2 tablespoons |
| olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| Mexican mayonnaise (Mayonesa McCormick con Limon preferred) | 1 1/2 cups |
| crema mexicana | 1 cup |
| chiles chipotles en adobofinely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce | 3 to 4 |
| fresh lime juice | 1 tablespoon |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| good-quality ham (jamon de pierna)cut into small dice | 8 ounces |
| cooked corn kernels | 1 1/2 cups (from 2 ears, or thawed frozen) |
| celery ribsfinely diced | 3 |
| white onionfinely diced | 1/2 medium |
| carrotpeeled and finely diced | 1 medium |
| red bell pepperfinely diced | 1/2 cup |
| ground chiltepin (optional) | for finishing |
| flour tortillas (optional) | for serving with the carne asada |
Equipment Needed
- •Large stockpot for boiling pasta
- •Wide colander
- •Large mixing bowl, ceramic or glass
- •Wide silicone spatula for folding
- •Wooden chiltepinero for grinding chiltepin (optional but Sonoran)
Instructions
- 1
Cook the coditos
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the kosher salt. The water should taste like the Sea of Cortez. Add the macaroni and cook one minute past al dente, about nine to ten minutes. This is not Italian pasta. In Sonora, the coditos go a little soft so they drink the dressing. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until the pasta is completely cool. Toss with the olive oil so the elbows do not glue together. Set aside.
Rinsing pasta is a sin for spaghetti and a requirement for ensalada de coditos. The cold water stops the cooking and washes off the surface starch that would turn the dressing gummy. - 2
Build the chipotle dressing
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Mexican mayonnaise, crema mexicana, chopped chipotles, two tablespoons of the adobo sauce, lime juice, salt, and black pepper. The dressing should turn a smoky orange-pink. Taste it. If it does not have a backbone of chipotle heat and a clean lime finish, add another spoon of adobo and a pinch more salt. This color is the signal that you are eating Sonoran ensalada de coditos and not the pale mayonnaise pasta salad served at American picnics.
- 3
Prep the mix-ins
Dice the ham, celery, white onion, carrot, and red bell pepper into pieces about the size of a pea. The pieces should be smaller than the macaroni so a single forkful carries pasta, dressing, and a bit of everything. If you are using fresh corn, cut the kernels off two grilled or boiled ears. Frozen corn works, but thaw it completely and pat it dry. Wet corn dilutes the dressing.
- 4
Combine
Add the cooled coditos to the bowl with the dressing. Fold gently with a wide spatula until every elbow is coated in the smoky orange. Add the ham, corn, celery, onion, carrot, and red bell pepper. Fold again until evenly distributed. Taste once more for salt and lime. The salad always wakes up with one more pinch of salt at this stage.
- 5
Chill and rest
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours, ideally four. The pasta absorbs the dressing as it sits, the chipotle deepens, and the flavors marry. A freshly mixed ensalada de coditos is a flat ensalada de coditos. This is not a salad you make and serve. It is a salad you make in the morning so it is ready by the time the carne asada hits the grill.
- 6
Finish at the table
Stir once before serving. The dressing will have tightened in the refrigerator, so if it looks dry, fold in a tablespoon or two of crema to loosen it. Pile into a wide ceramic bowl or a glass cazuela. Dust the top with ground chiltepin if you want the Sonoran heat signature. Serve cold, alongside the carne asada, the flour tortillas, frijoles puercos, salsa bandera, and guacamole. Asi se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Mayonesa McCormick with lime is what most Sonoran cooks reach for. If you cannot find it, use a good full-fat mayonnaise and add an extra teaspoon of lime juice. American mayonnaise with no acid will taste flat in this dressing.
- •Crema mexicana is not sour cream. Sour cream is too thick and too tangy. If you cannot find crema mexicana, thin sour cream with a tablespoon of whole milk and a pinch of salt. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Chipotle heat builds overnight. If you are making the salad a day ahead, use three chiles instead of four. By the next afternoon, three will taste like four.
- •If you have access to chiltepin, the wild Sonoran chile that the state declared cultural heritage in 2009, grind a few pods in a wooden chiltepinero and dust the top of the salad just before serving. That is the regional signature.
Advance Preparation
- •Ensalada de coditos must be made at least two hours before serving. Four to six hours ahead is better. Overnight is fine.
- •Keeps refrigerated for three days. Stir before serving and loosen with a spoonful of crema if the dressing has tightened.
- •Do not freeze. The mayonnaise and crema break and the pasta turns to mush.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
485 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
795 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
10 g
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