Mexican Street Corn Dip | Food Wishes

Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Mexican street corn dip. That's right, we're turning something called a lo into a very party friendly dip. And other than on the cob with butter and salt, I think this is the best way to enjoy sweet summer corn. And to get started, let me show you what I think is the easiest way to get the kernels off the cob. And that would be to place a ramkin or a coffee cup upside down in a bowl. And then we'll stand the corn up and hold the tip and we will carefully slice straight down. And with that ramkin at the bottom, our knife's able to go all the way to the bottom of the cob without hitting the bowl. And it makes for a really safe, fast way to do this job. Oh, and once we're done, I like to take the back of the knife and kind of scrape down, which is going to squeeze out a little bit of that really sweet, nice, starchy corn juice, which I would like to have going into my dip. And you should, too. But anyway, no matter what method you use, we're going to need the corn from four ears. And once that's set, we'll head to the stove where we have a generous amount of olive oil set over mediumigh heat. And what we'll do is transfer in our corn. And we'll kind of pat that down and smooth it out into a nice even layer. at which point we'll just leave it alone for a few minutes or until it starts to lightly brown. And you know that started to happen when the corn starts to pop. So please be careful. And once that happens, what we'll do is give it a quick stir, and then add the rest of the ingredients, which will include some kosher salt, some cayenne, some freshly ground black pepper, a very generous amount of chili powder, plus a nice big pinch of oregano, preferably Mexican, but any oregano will do. And then we'll finish up with some finely diced red onion. And we'll go ahead and give everything a stir. And then we'll continue cooking, stirring occasionally for like two minutes. Right. For this dip, I do not want the corn well done. We are just taking off the raw edge. And what we'll do once this has cooked for a couple minutes is simply turn off the heat and let it cool down. And by the way, fair warning, that starchy corn liquid is going to kind of caramelize to the bottom of the pan and get kind of dark brown. And it's going to mix with those dark chili powders and it's going to look like it's almost too dark, but trust me, it's not. And you'll see that when we mix everything together. But anyway, like I said, we'll turn off the heat and let that sit and we'll move on to the actual dip, which is going to start with some room temperature cream cheese. Oh, and no need to dirty another bowl. We can just use the one we use for the corn. We are also going to want some top shelf mayonnaise as well as a nice big dollop of sour cream. And then we will follow that with some garlic powder as well as a generous amount of a finely grated Mexican cheese called kotiha which is sort of like a mild parmesan. And you could definitely substitute that instead. And then what we'll do is go ahead and briefly spatulate this just to sort of cream everything together before we transfer in our corn and spice mixture. And we will also want to squeeze in at least one whole lime. And I know you're thinking that corn's too dark, but again, that's just the caramelization from the pan and that toasted chili powder. And you'll see once we start mixing this, it's going to turn into this beautiful toasty orange color. But before we mix, let's toss in some freshly chopped cilantro. And that's it. We'll take our spatula and blend this until it's thoroughly combined. Well, when speaking of dark charred corn, the original dish this is based on, which is called a lo is actually mostly corn that's charred over an open fire and either saued and spiced and eaten right off the cob or shaved off at that point and then tossed with the mayo and chili powder and lime, etc. And that is an incredible thing to eat. But like I said, we're going to turn this into a party dip, which is why we're stretching it out and using things like cream cheese. And of course, feel free to give it a taste now. But like all dips, after we wrap this and chill it in the fridge, we will give it another taste and decide if we want more spice or more lime or more salt. So, this is just a little bit of a sneak preview before we wrap it up. And we'll go ahead and pop that in the fridge for at least an hour, but longer is probably even better. And while that was chilling, I decided to make an extra optional garnish for the top. So, I threw a couple cloves of garlic and a sliced up Fresno chili into some avocado oil. And I added a pinch of salt and a little bit of smoked paprika. And then I pureeed it nice and fine and eventually passed it through a fine strainer to make basically a very garlicky Fresno chili oil. And by the way, it's going to be very cloudy when you first make it because of all the air bubbles. But once you wrap this and let it sit, it will deepen in color and look much more like a chili oil. And while it is optional, I think that's going to be beautiful drizzled over the top of our finished dip, which at some point will be finished chilling. And if we're happy with how it tastes, and I was very happy, we will transfer that into some kind of serving platter or bowl. And then, as far as garnishing goes, I'm going to sprinkle over some more of our grated kotia cheese, followed by, if we made it, some of our garlic Fresno chili oil. And instead of that, you could also do a fine dice of the Fresno chili. But I love how this looks and it adds a little bit of richness plus that little kiss of raw garlic which will give us some ioli vibes. And then I finished up with a little more red onion before a final scattering of torn cilantro leaves. And that's it. Our lo inspired Mexican street corn dip is ready to enjoy, which we really want to do next to a nice big pile of crispy tortilla chips. And I'm going to go ahead and grab one of those and dig in to see how we did. And that, my friends, other than being on the cob with lots of butter and salt, is my favorite way to enjoy sweet summer corn, okay, the sweetness and crunch of that paired with the heat from the cayenne and the chili powder and that Fresno chili oil is an amazing combo with everything being balanced and cooled down a little bit by that creamy dip base. To me, this just makes for the perfect summer dip. And once you start eating this, you will quickly realize it is nearly impossible to stop. So I didn't. I just kept eating. And of course, I made this super spicy and put a ton of cayenne in. So I will probably list normal human amounts of the ingredients in the written recipe. But of course, everything is to taste. So please feel free to adjust everything to your liking. I mean, you are after all the wy coyote of this dip inspired by a lo. But whether you adjust this or make it as shown, I really do hope you give this a try soon. So, please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual. And is always in joy.