/ la corn-nita /
If you’ve ever had our Mexican Street Corn you’ll know it’s a thing of beauty, the crème de la cob, King of the Husk! If you haven’t tried it, you might think we’re exaggerating, how much can really go into a cob of corn? Well YelpReviewer79, we challenge you to try it for yourself with our DIY Mexican Street Corn recipe below.
(Serves 4 )
You’ll Need:
4 cobs of corn
25g queso añejo cheese
Sprinkle of ground chili de árbol
100ml Mexican crema
4tbs melted butter
1 lime wedge
1 small squirt bottle
Access to a grill or bbq
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water for blanching to a boil and season.
Peel all the husks of the corn back, removing only the thick outer layer and leaving the inner husk attached to the cob. Save the thick outer husks!
When the water comes to a boil, blanch the corn for 2 minutes, then remove them from the boiling water and let them cool down. Also blanch those previously removed outer husks.
Using a strand of the outer husk, tie together the remaining strands of husks still attached to the cob. This will give a nice handle to hold while eating. Cut the husk handle to 1 ½ inches.
Turn your grill or BBQ on to high heat. When hot, add the corn and char it evenly while turning the corn every few moments. While charring, brush the corn with the melted butter.
When the corn has nice char marks remove it from the grill.
Season the cobs of corn with salt and lay down on your desired serving dish.
For best results add the Mexican crema to a squirt bottle to dress the cobs (try to make sure you have an even distribution).
Sprinkle each cob with a light dusting of the chili de árbol and ancho chili powder to your desired spice level. Ancho chili powder is also fruity and earthy with mild heat and flavours so don’t be afraid to use it liberally.
To finish, top the grilled corn with fresh grated queso añejo cheese and serve with a lime wedge.
Note: If Mexican crema is unavailable, sour cream or crème fraiche can be used as a replacement. Feta cheese may also be used as a substitute for queso añejo if needed.
Enjoy (provecho)!
Not up for the challenge? Don’t worry, you can get it with our Winter Feels prix-fixe menu that runs Feb 1st -14th. The Winter Feels Prix Fixe comes with our famous Mexican Street Corn, your choice of salad or guac & chips, two tacos and dessert for $23+tax.
/ no corners cut /
AN INTERVIEW WITH EXECUTIVE CHEF JON HAMILTON
On November 1st. we rolled out a new menu across our locations, adding a Snack and Large Plate section in addition to the OG tacos you know and love. La Carnita’s Executive Chef, Jon Hamilton gives the details on these new items.
The dish I’m most anticipating on this new menu is the vegan crispy Sweet Potato Taco. I’m not vegan, however, I’m excited about it because we’re seeing an increase in meatless guests. I wanted to make sure we’re not just modifying something for them that’s not as good as it can or should be. I decided to make a taco from scratch that was 100% vegan and is just as good as all the other items on the menu.”
“The snack section of the menu was inspired by some of the kitchen’s favourite things that fit on small plates.”
We thought that adding these items was a fun way to have a new offering that was flavourful and shareable and a little different from the regular taco menu.
The Barbacoa Pork Ribs have been a fan favourite for a long time. After a brief period of removing them from the menu, it caused outrage by staff and guests alike so it was a pretty obvious choice to add them as an everyday item on our new Large Plates menu.
Some of the ingredients from our menu don’t fit into a traditional Mexican restaurant and some things do. At its heart, I see La Carnita as a taqueria inspired by Mexican street food meets LA street/taco culture (See L.A. Taco). I think this often gets categorized into the broader context of Mexican cuisine and also incorporates other cuisines with aspects of Latin America and South America. This style is heavily influenced by the ingredients and techniques people brought with them as they immigrated and with the traditional aspect of cooking using ingredients readily available in one’s specific area or region.
FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM?
Eat more tacos in your life!
