Mexican street corn

Tam West

Though there are lots of things you can do with sweetcorn, I like to keep it simple, and grilled corn is a favourite. These toppings - vegan chipotle mayo and chipotle lime salt - come from Rohit, one of our Little Bird chefs. It’s a great pre-dinner snack, side or barbecue favourite.

For the chipotle mayo

1 ½ cups	Cashew nuts, soaked for 2-4 hours
1	Dried chipotle, soaked in water approx 4 hours, or 1 tsp chipotle chilli in adobo sauce (Main)
3	Garlic cloves
1 Tbsp	Nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp	Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp	Lemon juice
½ cup	Water
¼ cup	Sunflower oil, or other neutral-tasting oil
¼ tsp	Salt, add more to taste

For the chipotle lime salt

2	Limes (Main)
1	Dried chipotle (Main)
¼ cup	Sea salt flakes

Directions

1. For the mayo, rinse the cashews well and drain the chipotle, then place everything in a blender except the sunflower oil and salt. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, gradually add in the oil. Add salt to taste (as well as additional chipotle to your liking). The chipotle mayo will thicken in the fridge. I usually make it ahead of time so it's a nice consistency for serving. If you would like it runnier, add a little extra water until you reach the desired consistency. This will store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
2. Make the chipotle lime salt.This is a small batch: feel free to make a larger one. Zest the limes and place on a baking sheet and either dehydrate for 2-3 hours or place in the oven at around 100C for 30 minutes — whichever method you use, your aim is to dry out the lime without over-heating it or you will lose the intense flavour. Place the dried chipotle in a blender and blend into a fine powder (or use a mortar and pestle), place in a bowl with the salt and dried lime zest. This will store in a jar for ages.
3. To cook your corn,husk as many cobs as you require and either place on the barbecue grill or next to a hot gas flame on your stove. Use tongs to turn the corn occasionally until it is cooked through and lightly charred. On the barbecue, this will take around 10 minutes and on the stove around 6 minutes (it will depend on the strength of your flame).
4. Serve the corn with a drizzle of chipotle mayo and a sprinkle of chipotle lime salt.