Esquites Norteños al Chiltepín

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy cazuela
• •Volcanic stone molcajete for grinding the chiltepin salt
• •Sharp chef's knife for cutting kernels off the cob
• •Small enameled mugs or wide ceramic cups for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the corn off the cob

   Stand each ear of corn upright in a wide bowl. Slice down the cob with a sharp knife, releasing the kernels. Then run the back of the knife down the stripped cob to scrape out the milky liquid still clinging to it. That milk is sugar and starch. It is what makes esquites taste like corn and not just buttered kernels. Do not skip it.

   Use sweet corn from the market, the kind sold in season. Frozen corn works in a pinch but the milk is gone and the dish loses its body. If you cannot get fresh, do not make this in February. Wait for the corn to come in.
2. 2

   Make the chiltepin salt

   Place 15 of the chiltepin chiles in a molcajete with the flaky sea salt. Grind them together until the chiles break down into rough red flecks and the salt picks up their color and oil. The chiltepin is small and round and looks harmless. It is not. Taste a flake on the tip of your finger before you decide how much goes on the finished plate. Esto es chile sonorense. Treat it with respect.

   Chiltepin grows wild in the Sonoran desert and along the Sierra Madre. The women in the small towns of Sonora and Chihuahua harvest it by hand from spiny bushes in late autumn. It is expensive for a reason. If your jar of chiltepin is more than a year old, buy fresh. The oils dry out and the heat goes flat.
3. 3

   Sweat the aromatics

   In a wide cast-iron skillet or a heavy cazuela, melt the butter and the manteca over medium heat. The combination is the point: butter for the dairy sweetness the north loves, manteca for the depth. La manteca es el sabor. Add the diced onion and cook for about four minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent. Do not brown it. You want sweet, not toasted. Add the garlic and cook one minute more.

4. 4

   Stew the corn

   Add the corn kernels and any scraped milk from the bowl. Stir to coat in the fat. Crumble in the remaining 5 to 10 whole chiltepin chiles, depending on how much heat you want at the base of the dish. Season with the kosher salt. Pour in the water or broth, just enough to keep the kernels from sticking and to let them stew rather than fry.

5. 5

   Cook until the corn surrenders

   Cover partially and cook for 10 to 12 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring every couple of minutes. The kernels should turn from pale yellow to a deeper, more golden color and the liquid should reduce until what remains is a glossy, buttery slick coating every kernel. Taste one. It should pop softly between your teeth, not crunch. If it crunches, give it a few minutes more. If the pan dries out before the corn is tender, add a splash more water.

   The south puts epazote in everything corn. The north does not. Do not add epazote here. Do not add hoja santa. This is a norteño dish and the herb shelf is closed. The flavor comes from butter, manteca, corn milk, and chiltepin. Asi se hace y punto.
6. 6

   Finish and check the seasoning

   Pull the skillet off the heat. Taste the corn. It should taste like corn, butter, and a low background hum of chile. Adjust the salt. If you want more heat in the base before serving, crumble another chiltepin or two directly into the pan and stir. Do not stir in the crema, the queso, or the lime yet. Those go on at the cup, not in the pan. That is how esquites work.

7. 7

   Build the cups

   Spoon the hot corn into individual cups, small bowls, or wide enameled mugs the way the puestos serve them in Hermosillo and Ciudad Juarez. Drizzle each cup with crema. Top generously with crumbled queso fresco. Squeeze a lime wedge over the top. Finish with a pinch of the chiltepin salt and let each person add more at the table. Serve immediately, with a spoon and a lime wedge on the side. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and this cup belongs to the north.

Chef Tips

• •Chiltepin is the only correct chile here. Pequin is its cousin and will work if you absolutely cannot find chiltepin, but the heat is sharper and the flavor is grassier. Red pepper flakes are not a substitution. They are a different ingredient pretending to be this one.
• •Mexican crema is not sour cream. Sour cream is thicker, tangier, and curdles when it touches hot food. Crema mexicana pours like heavy cream and holds its body on hot corn. If you can only find sour cream, thin it with a little whole milk and a pinch of salt before using it. A compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Queso fresco or queso ranchero are the cheeses here. Not feta. Not cotija (that is the central-Mexico move). Not, under any circumstances, shredded cheddar. The cheese should crumble between your fingers and taste milky, not sharp.
• •Make extra chiltepin salt. Put it in a small clay jar on the table. It belongs on grilled steak, on roasted vegetables, on the rim of a beer glass. Once you have it in the house you will reach for it daily.

Advance Preparation

• •The chiltepin salt can be made up to a month ahead and stored in a small sealed jar at room temperature. The flavor deepens as the chile oils soak into the salt.
• •The corn base can be stewed up to two hours ahead and held covered off the heat. Warm gently before serving and build the cups at the moment of eating. Esquites do not hold once the crema goes on, so dress them at the cup, not in the pot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 265g)