Maque Choux (pronounced “mock shoe”) is a south Louisiana classic that uses fresh corn, bell peppers and hot sauce, preferably Tabasco. Some recipes add tomato, celery and cayenne. My sister, Nadalyn, revised an Avery Island Maque Choux that she’s been making for years and created a nice little southern-New Mexican fusion: Green Chile Maque Choux – a simple dish with a mix of fresh summer corn, sweet pepper, and roasted New Mexico chile. As you’ve seen in several of my recipes, corn and green chile is a enjoyable flavor combination and is the crown jewel of this dish.
The most time consuming part of maque choux is cutting the corn off the cobs and scraping the cobs to extract the corn milk, which, this latter task is actually optional. But once this is done, the dish comes together quickly with only about a 15 minute cook time. A nice side for just about any entrée. It is also nice having leftovers, because it’s even better the next day.
Hope you enjoy!
Green Chile Maque Choux
Pronounced “mock shoe”, maque choux is southern classic made with fresh summer corn and Tabasco. This New Mexico version adds roasted green chile which enhances the flavor even more and adds a bit of chile spiciness.
Prep time includes cutting the corn off cob. It does not includes roasting and peeling the green chile.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, links, and substitutions on the ingredients.
- ½ large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3-4 ears (about 3 cups) fresh corn*, kernels cut off the cobs and cobs scraped (see instructions)
- ½ – 1 cup mild/medium roasted hatch chiles*, chopped
- 2 Tbsp butter, divided
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 large pods garlic, minced
- 1/2 – 1 tsp TABASCO® brand Original Red Sauce*
- 1/2 cup cream or whole milk
- 1-2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
- 1 egg*, beaten
- Salt to taste
- Cut corn kernels off cobs. After removing kernels, use the backside of the knife and scrape the cobs to extract the corn milk. Add to corn kernels.
Heat 1 tablespoon butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add onion and red pepper. Cook until onion is translucent.
Add garlic, corn, and green chile. Cook until corn is almost tender. Taste. Add salt if needed.
Gradually stir in TABASCO® Sauce, 1 tablespoon butter, and cream. Cook 5 minutes longer, stirring frequently, until most of liquid thickens and reduces.
Remove skillet from heat. Stir in the parsley and the beaten egg. Continue stirring for 1 minute or until egg is cooked. Serve and enjoy.
Corn – Summer sweet corn makes the best maque choux; however, you could also use frozen or canned, it just won’t be as good IMO. For this particular batch, we used white sweet corn from Schwebach Farms, a local source just outside Albuquerque.
Roasted Green Chile – The amount of chile depends on the spiciness of the chile and how spicy you want the final dish. Joe Parker Hatch chile from The Hatch Chile Store is a relatively mild chile so 1 cup is easy to use without the dish getting to hot. Medium Big Jim can be rather spicy, so start with 1/2 cup, then add more if desired. You can used freshly roasted, canned, or frozen chile.
Tabasco – Because of its unique flavor, this is the best hot sauce to use for this dish, but another hot sauce could be used if you can’t find Tabasco.
Egg – The egg is used as a thickener, but could be omitted.
Nadalyn and I have been cooking together all our lives and have always enjoyed our time together in the kitchen, so I’m thrilled when she shares one of her creations. Be sure to check out the other recipes Nadalyn has shared with MJ’s Kitchen.
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Love a good cajun recipe! And what a perfect combo of peppers, corn and bacon !
Thanks Hashmanis!
Made this green chile maque choux tonight with blackened catfish and MJ’s apple walnut salad. Awesome!!
Thanks so much Holly!!!! Sounds like a fabulous meal! Now I have a craving for blackened catfish. 🙂
Always have loved this classic dish and with the addition of green chilies it gets even better. I must get out to bet my bushel of chilies soon. I don’t know where this summer has gone. Unfortunately, we’ve had terrible corn this year. I think it’s the strange weather we’ve had. 100plus temps in June and now it is cool. Anyway, that won’t stop me from trying this!
Thanks so much Abbe! We actually seem to be having a pretty good corn crop this year. I’ve bought a lot of it and it’s been excellent. However, I’m not seeing many tomatoes and ours got beat by a hail storm. The weather is really screwing things up. UGH!! Hope you’re enjoying the cooler weather.
Reading your Maque Choux recipe makes me hungry for some nice fresh sweet corn. We don’t get particularly good corn over this way, so I use frozen corn. I’ve never made it with roasted Hatch chilis. What a wonderful and spicy flavor that must give the dish. We usually have it with prawns and serve with rice. Thanks for the inspiration to make some mock shoe, it’s been awhile.
Ron, Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. I went to your site and got quite excited about your travels. Look forward to following you! I would think that fresh corn might be hard to get where you are, but good quality frozen corn should work for this dish. Bet you can’t get Hatch chile there either. 🙂 Thanks again!
Hubby not a big fan of corn, but I could eat this all day long! Sweet corn and earthy, spicy green chiles? Oh yes! Garnish everything with it too. 🙂
Thanks so much Judy! Oh my…Bobby would just have to suffer if he didn’t like corn. 🙂 However, I must say, I have been buying so much of it lately and we’ve been eating it almost every night in one way or another, that we are taking a week long break from it. Of course, neither of us ever tire of chile. 🙂
I bet this tastes amazing, fresh corn is so delicious. I wish I would have access to all these amazing chilies you are using in your recipes. I can only buy one sort of fresh chili around here and that not all the time and not in any supermarket. The Germans are afraid of any kind of spicy food, I am afraid… using a pinch of chili, garlic or any other “exotic” spices is like a test of courage in the kitchen. 🙁
Thanks Adina! I did not know that Germans didn’t like spicy food. Interesting bit of knowledge. Chile I can understand, but garlic? Oh my…one will always find garlic in this kitchen and in almost every dish I make. 🙂 Knowing your recipes, you do have a lot of courage. 🙂
Well, I am not German, I just live here in Germany. But my Romanian blood smells of garlic. 🙂 🙂
Ha Ha!!!
Love both the idea of the dish and the name. Cheers
Thanks Carole! It is a fun name!
Found Hatch chiles at the market today! On sale too, bravo! Corn and chiles are the perfect summer match, it all comes together in this flavorful recipe.
Thanks so much Deb! Enjoy your chile!
The written name vs pronounciation+meaning is so funny! Apart from that, this side-dish sounds amazingly good and I think I actually have all the ingredients at home! I am quite a recent user of fresh corn (apart from boiled/grilled whole cobs, of course) and I’m thrilled to learn one more recipe!
The corn milk extraction sounds very very mysterious and seducing. I must try to do the same maybe also with my Japanese savoury pancakes… I wonder how it changes the taste and the texture…
PS I’ve been trying to grow ancho this summer – I’ve never tasted fresh ones – and I’m really disappointed…. the fruits are scarce and tiny, while other chile varieties were already ready for harvest last week and have lots of fruits. I guess they might be too big for my balcony planters!
Thanks so much Sissi! Totally agree about the name of this dish. It’s creole I believe, which a group of people in south Louisiana that are of native, French, Spanish and African descent. Corn milk extract is amazing and allows one to reduce the amount of cream used in the dish. It is laborious, but worth every bit of effort. Please give it a try and your pancakes would be a great place to start.
I found out the same thing with ancho. I planted one plant and am finding the peppers to be small and thin, but then my garden doesn’t get but 6 hours of sun a day, so my produce is normally smaller than what one finds in the store or from farms. My bell peppers are the same way. Bobby and I had a garden rework recently and have already decided to change our strategy for next year and filter out what we can’t find locally at a reasonable price as well as, only plant what we LOVE to eat. After paying $4.25 for 2 heads of garlic yesterday, I think garlic just got added to the list as something to grow. 🙂
Wow! It sounds really expensive! I don’t pay as much even for organic garlic (even not for the fresh spring garlic, which is really expensive).
From my experience garlic grows on its own without any attention: I often put garlic cloves which start sprouting (in the fridge) in planters on my balcony in order to obtain garlic “chives” and if I leave the clove for too long I have small cloves growing around it! So good luck!
PS Next year I’ll plant mainly Thai chillies : they are small but have lots of quick-growing fruits!
I know right. As a test, I think I’ll put one in a pot and see what happen. My wasabi experiment was a total bust. Oh well.
What a perfectly delicious way to celebrate the hatch chili harvest season. Just pinned!
thanks so much Bobbi!
On Friday, my friend visited me ( we usually meet on Fridays after work, at my place to have a glass of cold beer and a snack ) to talk the week over and she bumped with her collection of vegetables growing on her balcony ( different composition comparing to mine ) and there I found green chile 🙂 so beautiful, vibrant and inviting. The rest of ingredients are easily available ( Tabasco is my “must have” and this is another beauty of yours to try on Wednesday since we are at home because of holiday ( Assumption Day : I guess this is correct translation on English ). Of course I will let you know how it worked at my place 🙂 Thank you and enjoy the day !
Hello ! Made half of batch two hours ago and still happy 🙂 there is some left for office lunch tomorrow ! Tasteful as usual 🙂 🙂 Thank you so much !
THANK YOU!!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. You’re a doll!
What a great tradition!!! Now that my husband and I are both retired, we have an afternoon happy hour quite often. 🙂 Love those balcony gardens. They always impress me as to how much people can grow on a balcony. Hope you had a chance to make this and thank you so much for your comments!
Although cutting the corn of the cob can sometimes be messy, it is worth the effort when you have a dish like this.
Amen! I have a HUGE bowl that I use. It prevents corn from flying all over the kitchen. Somewhat awkward, but it works. Thanks Karen!
I just got a notice from my local grocery store in Oklahoma that hatch chile peppers are coming! Thanks for this Maque Choux recipe – I used to cook more Creole and Cajun recipes, and I’d completely forgotten about this!
You are most welcome Mimi! Glad to see you are getting some New Mexico chile. YAY!! Thanks for your comment.
Love this dish! And Hatch green chilies have arrived at our supermarket — so I’m all set for ingredients. 🙂
YAY! Hatch chile has reached you! That’s nice that your stores roast for you. Here they charge you, but then, hopefully, it’s cheaper here since it doesn’t have to be shipped so far. Enjoy your chile!!! Thanks for stopping by.
What a lovely recipe for fresh corn, MJ! My husband and I are getting braver with chilis so this really appeals to me. How lovely you and your sister enjoy cooking together – I love being in the kitchen with family members. It’s such a great way to make memories.
Thanks so much April! The chiles for this recipe can be mild. It’s the flavor with the corn that makes this dish so good. And yes, a lot of memories are made in the kitchen. 🙂
This looks so good! I think I might top it with a fried egg and call it breakfast! I need to see if there are any Hatch chili roasting events in Reno!
Thanks Susan! An egg on top sounds wonderful. I have some leftovers in the fridge so I’ll try that. Thanks for the idea!
It sounds and looks great with green chili. I still haven’t had any fresh corn this year…really need to get some tomorrow!
Thanks Angie! Corn started coming in here a couple of weeks ago and I just can’t get enough. 🙂
Great recipe, MJ. I was so excited to see that our local grocery store will be hosting a roasting next weekend! Buy a box of Hatch green chiles and they will roast for free. I am so excited and have it on my calendar. I’ll come home and make one of your many green chile recipes!
Thanks so much Debra! I’ve seen pictures of some New Mexico suppliers, especially down in Hatch, loading the trucks for shipping. It’s an exciting time of the year.