Cajun Corn Maque Choux

Maque Choux is a traditional Cajun side dish made from smothering or braising fresh corn with other vegetables, seasoned with some form of fat and South Louisiana spices, as spicy or mild as you like. Sweet Daddy D’s Maque Choux is simply fresh corn, the trinity, tomatoes, garlic and Herbs and Spices thicken with a smidgen of heavy cream. The cooking process turn these ingredients into something between creamed corn and succotash with a Cajun accent. If you are new to Cajun and Creole food, this creamy, savory dish is a great place to start. How many ways do you like corn? This will be number 1.

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• What is Maque Choux?
• Here’s What You Need
• Here’s What You Do
• Hints and Tips (FAQs)
• Maque Choux
• Comments or Questions?

What is Maque Choux?

In case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced MOCK-SHOE. The name itself is French, but as with most traditional South Louisiana dishes, there’s no total agreement on where the name came from. Theories on the meaning of the name include “thin child” which may refer to the process of thinning the vegetable mixture with cream or milk. Some say it means “mock cabbage” and suspect that cabbage was once an ingredient. Regardless of the meaning of the name, it’s fairly certain that the dish originated from the indigenous people that populated Southern Louisiana before it was cool to populate South Louisiana. Pierre Le Moyne d’ Iberville’s men observed Native American women in Bayougoula (Iberville Parish) as early as 1699 making a variety of corn dishes called “sagamité”. One variety was corn stewed in bear oi, another like succotash and a third was fried cornmeal. It was common for migrants new to the area to learn from and share with the Native population. When the Acadian refugees arrived in South Louisiana between 1764 and 1788 they quickly learned that their go-to crop, wheat, was ill-suited for the climate and soils of the region and soon adapted corn as a mainstay in their diet. Particularly in the Southwest Plains and Acadiana areas around Point Coupee Parish, variants of sagamite were developed. It’s likely the Cajun cook found the dish a little bland and eventually added onions and other seasonings, even tomatoes, to the dish that became known as Maque Choux. Today, it’s a common side dish found on Cajun and Creole tables and is a culinary link to the development of our culture. 

Here’s What You Need

Here are some of the key ingredients for this recipe:

Equipment

Here is some of the equipment I used to prepare this recipe:

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Cutting board, Chef's knife, Glass Prep Bowls, Cambro Prep Bowls, Glass Measuring cups, Measuring cups, Measuring spoons, Dutch oven

Here’s What You Do

First...you have a beer. Making this recipe, whether it’s the first time, or the hundredth time will be easier with proper preparation. That starts with the cook. Open a beer and sit down to read the recipe from top to bottom. It’s pretty simple, but knowing what you need and what you’ll do with each ingredient will make things run smoother. 

Mise en place

Gather all of your ingredients. Cutting the corn off the cob will take a few minutes and I’ll cover that in the next paragraph. Once the corn is cut off the cob, place it and as much "milk" as you can save in a large glass measuring cup. If using canned tomatoes, pour them into a strainer and let them drain while you prepare the other ingredients. If using fresh tomatoes, you'll want to peel and de-seeded. Check out my article on how to do that. Deseed and chop the jalapeno, if using, and place in it a small prep bowl. Coarsely chop the onions, bell peppers and celery and place them together in a prep bowl. Slice the bacon or measure the bacon grease, chop the garlic and set those aside in individual prep bowls. 

Preparing the corn

This is the step that makes this dish special. Make sure the corn is cleaned and all the corn silk has been removed. Set a small glass bowl upside down in a large glass bowl. Place the stem end of the corn on top of the small glass bowl and with a sharp knife, cut straight down, removing the kernels. Turn the corn after each slice until you’ve removed it all. Next, using the back (unsharpened edge) of your knife, scrape down the same cuts, squeezing out as much corn milk as possible. If you’re doing it right, it may be a little messy, but the final product of fresh, crisp corn kernels and a bunch of corn milk make this dish very memorable. Now you’re ready to start.

Build the flavor base

What happens in this step? Here we build a foundation by starting to caramelize the onions, which activates their sugars. Bacon grease, garlic, Herbs and Spice Blend provide major flavor to build on.

Place a heavy-bottom Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bacon grease and when it’s melted, add the yellow onions, bell peppers, celery (if using) and saute for about 8 to 10 minutes until the onions are starting to brown. Make sure to adjust the heat needed and, stirring often so the edges of the onions don’t burn.

Tip: If you are starting with bacon, slice it into approximately 1-inch pieces and throw them in the Dutch oven over medium heat. As the bacon fries and renders its fat, stir or flip the bacon until it’s crispy but not burned. Remove it from the pan, leaving the grease, and reserve to snack on or add back in the final stages.

Next add the garlic, jalapeno (if using), sugar, and Herb and Spice Blend. Stir and sauté for about 2 minutes.

Corn and tomatoes

What happens in this step? Now we’ll add the corn, with its juice, and the tomatoes to simmer and meld all the flavors. Increase the heat a little to compensate for the temperature drop when you add new ingredients.

Add the corn with all its milk and juice that has accumulated in the bowl. Let the mixture come to a strong simmer, continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the drained and crushed tomatoes and mix everything together. Return to a strong simmer and continue to saute for about 3 minutes.

Cover the Dutch oven, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until corn is softening. 

After about 20 minutes, uncover the Dutch oven and give everything a good stir. Mix well, remove or partially cover Dutch oven and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes while the liquid reduces. 

Finish with heavy cream

What happens in this step? This is the final stage when the Maque Choux develops that creamy finish.

Remove the lid completely and give everything a vigorous stir. Add the heavy cream slowly, starting with about ¼ cup. Mix it together completely and let it return to a simmer. Stir regularly while it thickens, adding more cream if desired. 

TIP: Not making soup, nor is it corn pudding

Add the green onions (save some for the top) and serve immediately. 

Hints and Tips (FAQs)

Check out these other great vegetable side dishes from Sweet Daddy D:

Check out these other great Cajun and Creole Recipes:

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