Minguiche and Uchepos – Michoacán Style Cheese and Pepper Dish and Fresh Corn tamales

 Click here to go to printable recipe: Michoacan Style Cheese and Pepper Dish – Minguiche

Click here to go to printable recipe: Michoacan Style fresh corn tamales – Uchepos

In my previous post, I shared a recipe for Colima Style Minguiche, a soup which in that state is traditionally prepared with poblano peppers, unripened cheese, and fresh corn.  The original Minguiche dish comes from the neighbouring state of Michoacán, where it is somewhat creamier, calls for serrano peppers, and has no corn.  I wanted to try this recipe, too; I gave it a twist by using melting cheese instead of unripened, for a very thick and rich soup, which may be served as a dip or side dish.  In addition, I used a mix of sweet green peppers (photo below, top) and serranos (bottom), for a milder version: 

This dish is often paired with tamales, particularly a triangular shape variety called corundas, made with nixtamalized corn dough (masa),  wrapped in long leaves from corn reeds.  However, since we are still in corn season here in Southern Ontario, I decided to serve it with uchepos, another classic tamales also from Michoacán, made not with nixtamalized, but fresh corn kernels, and wrapped in their own green husks, as seen in the photo at the top of this post.  

Michoacán Style Cheese and Pepper Dish – Minguiche

Printable recipe: Michoacan Style Cheese and Pepper Dish – Minguiche

Ingredients 

½ lb (225g) cheese, such as panela, añejo or light feta  
     OR Mexican Manchego, Chihuahua, or mozzarella for a thicker finish
2 tbsp butter
¼ white onion
2-3 serrano peppers, or mild green peppers, or a mix; washed
½ cup sour cream
Salt, to taste
Milk, optional

Prep ingredients (photo below, clockwise from top left): measure butter; cut cheese into cubes; measure cream; peel and finely chop onion; remove stems and seeds from peppers, and slice thinly:

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat (photo below, left).  Add onions and peppers (photo below, right):

Sauté vegetables until onion becomes translucent, then add cubed cheese.  If using unripened cheese, the cubes will fry in the butter, or if using melting cheese, it will start to melt (photo below, left).  After a couple of minutes, incorporate cream (photo below, right):

Season with salt, to taste, and continue cooking just until all ingredients have melded together and are hot:

NOTE: This batch had a thick consistency ideal for dipping, or as a side dish.  For soup consistency, use unripened cheese, and add a little milk at the end, as needed.

Michoacán Style Fresh Corn Tamales – Uchepos

Printable recipe: Michoacan Style fresh corn tamales – Uchepos

Ingredients

6 ears fresh corn, with husks
½ tsp salt
Milk, if needed

Place one ear of corn horizontal on a cutting board; hold the ear with one hand, and using a very sharp serrated knife, cut crosswise to remove the stem end:

Peel corn, careful not to break the husks, and remove silk:

Continue with all the corn.  Discard stem ends and silk. 

Wash husks, discarding damaged sections:

Drain, shake excess water, and reserve husks.

Take one ear of corn, and securely hold it vertical in the centre of a wide bowl; carefully shave a few rows of kernels, by running a sharp knife close to the cob, from top to bottom, then rotate and continue, until all the kernels are collected in the bowl. Discard cob, and repeat with the rest of the corn:

Transfer corn kernels to a blender jar, and add salt (photo below, left).  Pulse a few times, scraping corn bits from the blender wall in between (photo below, centre).  If the blender cannot handle the corn as it is, add a little bit of milk.  Continue blending at medium to high speed, for about one minute, until corn has been reduced to a paste (photo below, right):

Assemble tamales:  Take a few husks, and wipe with a paper or kitchen towel, to remove excess moisture (photo below, left).  Overlap husks to form a vessel for the corn.  Scoop about one third of a cup of corn paste onto the prepared husks (photo below, right):

NOTE: if the corn paste is too runny, drain some of the liquid through a colander with fine mesh, before scooping filling onto the husks:

Wrap husks around the corn paste (photo below, left).  Press down with a flat finger, and push paste away from the husk tips (photo below, centre).  Fold the husk tips, to close the package (photo below, right):

Continue with more husks, until all the corn paste has been used.

Prepare a large steamer or, as in my case, a large pot with hot water and a metal colander fitted on top (see note at the end).  Line the bottom with leftover husks, then arrange the corn packets vertically, with the folded end towards the bottom (photo below, left); this is important so the filling will not spill and the tamales will cook evenly.  Cover with more husks (photo below, centre); this will prevent condensation falling inside the tamales. Place a clean kitchen towel on top, to absorb some condensation, and insulation, then cover with lid (photo below, right):  

Place on stove over high heat; bring water in the steamer (or pot) to boil, then reduce heat to just maintain water boiling.  Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, checking that the steamer/pot does not dry out, adding hot water if needed. 

Uchepos are often served with a glass of milk, as a snack or a light meal:

Another option is a savoury presentation, topped with cream and salsa (green tomatillo in the photo, below):

And for this post, I paired uchepos with a side of thick minguiche: 

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NOTE: A steamer for tamales and other large foodstuffs is a tall pot with cover which has a rack that fits inside, a couple of inches above the bottom (first photo from left, below). Hot water is kept gently boiling at the bottom of the pot, while food sits on the rack, getting steamed without touching the water.  Since I cook tamales infrequently, I just use my large stock pot (second photo, below) and I fit it with the deep metal colander that I use for draining pasta and other hot food.  Because it has handles (third photo, below), they keep the colander hanging inside the pot, and this creates a gap from the bottom of the pot where the water is, with a similar effect as a steamer rack. 

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