Around the World in 80 Plates- Mexican Street Food

Captain Create has floated in his balloon to sunny Mexico City! It is a busy place with lots of interesting people and some really good food to try out! They eat a lot more than tacos in Mexico, and all of it is delicious to share with your friends and family.

Mexico is a big country with a lot of different states and, just like in the United States, the food is a little bit different in each one, because the weather and land is different too. Mexico has tall mountains, dry deserts, green jungles, and breezy beaches and the food is different in each place based on what they can grow or catch there.

Corn is a big part of food culture all over the country of Mexico. They eat it a lot of different ways, and Elote is how you can often find it for sale from a cart on city streets and in family barbecues at their homes. They grill an ear of corn, then put all sorts of yummy toppings on it, even hot chiles.

This recipe for Street Corn Soup is an easy variation of Elotes (street corn) and you can make from fresh corn or frozen corn without setting up a grill, or shucking corn on the cob .

Ingredients

5 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
6 cups reduced-salt chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium-size clove garlic, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped (2 ribs)
1 large ripe tomato or 3 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped
2 medium-size, fresh poblano chilis, seeded and cut into 2-by-¼-ich strips
¼ cup chopped cilantro, divided
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅓ cup light sour cream

Directions

Before you begin: Wash your hands.

Place the fresh or frozen corn in a 4-quart pot with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove 1 cup of the corn from the broth and reserve.
Place a nonstick skillet over medium heat
Add 1 teaspoon olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic and celery for 5 minutes until softened.
Pureé the onion mixture, broth, corn and tomatoes in a blender until smooth. Add the pureé to the pot and cook for 5 minutes.
Using the same nonstick skillet, sauté the chilis in the remaining teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes. Add to the pot along with the reserved corn. (The peppers will blacken and become soft).
Add 2 tablespoons of cilantro and the salt and pepper to the soup; cook for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add ⅓ cup of light sour cream and blend well. Garnish each serving with 1 teaspoon of chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Variation: Substitute plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt for the light sour cream. Or make a nondairy version with your favorite vegetarian sour cream or yogurt.

Two pounds of frozen corn kernels or about 10 ears of fresh corn will yield 5 cups.