Skip to main content

Esquites, Otherwise Known As Mexican Corn Salad

This easy and tasty corn salad is basically Mexican grilled corn (elote) turned into a side dish. It relies on only a few ingredients but it’s packed full of flavor. I like to grill the corn, to give the dish a tinge of smoke but if you don’t have a grill, just use the broiler instead, placing the corn under the broiler for 5 minutes initially, or until it starts to char and then rotating the corn 90˚ and letting the other sides of the corn char in 2-3 minutes. Cotija, by the way, is a hard cow milk Mexican cheese that can be found in most grocery stores, but if you can’t find it, feta will work in it’s place.

By eatthelove · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Esquites, Otherwise Known As Mexican Corn Salad

Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Esquites, Otherwise Known As Mexican Corn Salad

Makes enough for 4 to 6 people as a side dish
Prep10 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

437Calories
18 gProtein
31 gFat
29 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By eatthelove. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, corn, garlic, pepper, cheese, oregano, cumin):

  1. Basilfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, corn, garlic, pepper, cheese, oregano, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.