Ciudad de México
By Edson Diaz Fuentes
Padrón Rajas con crema
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
This is one of the most iconic vegetable guisados in Mexican cooking, and a must in any legitimate taquiza. It’s traditionally prepared with poblano chillies, but these can be really hard to get hold of in the UK, so I looked for an alternative and found that Padrón peppers worked best. It is a creamy unctuous filling for tacos and pasties.
Recipe From
Ingredients
CREMA- makes 600g (1 lb 5 oz)
500ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) double (heavy) cream
125ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) buttermilk
MOJO DE AJO
300g (10½ oz) garlic cloves, peeled
about 200ml (7 fl oz/scant 1 cup) grapeseed oil
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
ONION SOFRITO- makes 350g (12oz)
150g (5oz) Mojo de Ajo
500g (1lb 2oz) onions, finely sliced
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
PEPPERS
1 large sweetcorn cob, or 2 small ones
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
30g (1 oz) Mojo de Ajo
100g (3½ oz) Onion Sofrito
⅛ teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
260g (9¼ oz) Padrón peppers, halved and stalks removed
200g (7 oz) Crema
tortillas, to serve
Method
- First make the crema. Place the cream and buttermilk in a non-reactive bowl and mix until well blended. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the mixture reaches about 37°C (98°F), the same temperature as your body.
- Cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and leave at room temperature overnight. The mixture will have thickened and acquired a very light sour taste. It will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Then make the mojo de ajo: Place the garlic cloves and oil in a small saucepan, making sure the garlic are completely covered, almost submerged. Add a bit more oil if needed. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook slowly for 30 minutes until the garlic cloves turn golden-brown. They should be soft and break easily. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the salt and check the seasoning.
- Once cool, use a hand-held blender to blend the garlic to a smooth paste, making sure any excess oil is properly emulsified into the mixture. You will find that smaller batches tend to separate slightly, which is absolutely fine.
- The mojo de ajo will keep in a glass container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.
- To make the onion sofrito, heat the mojo de ajo in a medium-sized sauté pan over a low heat. When it’s hot and sizzling, add the onions. Stir for a few minutes making sure all the onion slices are well coated with mojo de ajo, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the onions, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan regularly, and checking to make sure they cook evenly and nothing catches or burns.
- When the onions are soft and slightly golden, add the salt and stir well, then take off the heat and leave to cool.
- It will keep in a glass container in the refrigerator for 4–5 days.
- To easily remove the husk from the corn cob(s), slice off the stem end, then pull off the husks. To detach the kernels, stand the corn cob on its cut side and run a knife down along the cob, as close as possible to the core. You will need 220g (7¾ oz) kernels.
- Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the mojo de ajo and fry until hot, making sure it does not burn. Add the sofrito and cook for a further couple of minutes. Now add the corn kernels, oregano, salt and black pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until the corn kernels are tender. Add the Padrón peppers and cook for a further 5 minutes until they are soft, but not so long that they completely collapse.
- In a separate non-stick frying pan (skillet), reheat the tortillas.
- Add the crema to the corn and pepper mixture and cook for 1 minute, just enough to warm it up, stirring to coat the vegetables. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve with the warm tortillas.
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