Korean Corn Cheese (Elote Style)
A popular Korean corn cheese snack that's cheesy, sweet & savory combined with the flavors of Elote (Mexican Grilled Corn) spice & tang.
Servings: 3 Servings
Calories: 577kcal
Ingredients
- 2 corn on the cob (kernels removed, approximately 3 ½ cups)
- 1 small onion (diced, approx. ¼ cup)
- 2 ½ tablespoons Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise (or regular mayonaise)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stalk green onion (finely chopped)
- 1 cup mozzarella
- ½ cup aged cheddar (I like to use old cheddar)
Elote Ingredients (Optional)
- ⅓ cup cotija cheese (or feta, crumbled)
- ¼ wedge of lime
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Corn on the Cob (Skip if Using Canned Corn)
- Remove the husk and leaves of the corn
- (Optional) Brush the corn with a bit of oil and grill the corn on high heat until brown and charred
- Shave the kernels off of the corn cob with a knife. To keep the corn from falling everywhere, place it on an upside-down bowl and cut the kernels downwards into a large plate or metal cookie sheet tray.(Use a larger plate than I have in the photo, so that your knife doesn't hit the plate while you are cutting downwards 😂)
Making the Corn Mixture
- Add the fresh corn (or canned corn) into a bowl. If you are using canned corn, drain it well before using it.
- Finely dice 1 small onion and place it in a bowl with the corn.
- Add in 2 ½ tablespoons Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar and mix together in a bowl.(you can skip the sugar if you're using canned corned, but if you want it sweet anyway, you can add in the extra sugar.)
Adding Elote Ingredients (Skip if Making Traditional Corn Cheese)
- Crumble up ⅓ cup cotija cheese and add it to the bowl of corn
- Cut ¼ of a lime and squeeze the juice into the bowl of corn (add more lime juice if you like a tangier flavor)
- Add in 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and mix everything well
Prepare the Cheese and Green Onions
- Finely chop the green onions and set aside
- Grate 1 cup mozzarella and ½ cup aged cheddar. Set it aside for later.
Option 1 - Cooking the Korean Corn Cheese (Stovetop Instructions)
- Set the stove to medium heat and melt the butter in a pan.
- Add in the corn mixture and cook for 10-15 minutes
- Add in the green onions and mix together.
- Top the corn with the mozzarella and cheddar cheese mixture, put a lid on it, and let it 'steam' the cheese for approx. 5 minutes until it has melted.
- Enjoy!
Option 2- Cooking the Korean Corn Cheese (Oven Instructions)
- Set the stove to medium heat and melt the butter in a pan.
- Add in the corn mixture and cook for 10-15 minutes
- Add in the green onions and mix together.
- Move the corn to an oven safe pan and top with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese mix cheese
- Broil for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted at the top and is brown.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- To make this the traditional Korean corn cheese, skip the Elote Ingredients steps.
- Save the cobs (you can freeze them) and use it to make soup broths
- To make this more quickly, substitute the fresh corn for canned corn.
- Grilling the corn is optional
