AI-generated image
Mote pillo
Mote pillo: Cuenca's hominy fried with achiote, spring onion and soft scrambled egg
In Cuenca's old cafés mote pillo arrives at breakfast or with the late-afternoon coffee, a plate of fat white hominy kernels fried in achiote butter and folded through with just-set egg and crumbled fresh cheese. The kernels stay chewy and nutty, the egg soft and glossy, and a big cup of black coffee or a slice of grilled cheese bread is all it wants beside it. The usual mistake is leaving the eggs on the heat until they dry into rubbery crumbs; pull the pan off while they still shine. Traditional queso fresco is often set with animal rennet; choose a cheese labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. Chef's tip: dry the drained mote on a tea towel first, so it fries and colours in the butter instead of steaming.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ lb cooked white hominy (mote)drained and rinsed, from a jar or tin, or home-cooked
- 1 oz butter
- 1 tsp ground achiote (annatto)or 1 tbsp achiote oil
- 1 white onionsmall, finely chopped
- 4 spring onionswhites chopped, greens thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlicfinely chopped
- 4 eggslarge
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
To finish
- 3 ½ oz queso frescocrumbled; vegetarian fresh cheese if you prefer
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander (optional)chopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (7)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Spread 1 ⅓ lb cooked white hominy (mote) on a clean tea towel and pat it dry. Wet kernels spit in the pan and turn pale instead of golden.
Step 2: Melt 1 oz butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat, stir in 1 tsp ground achiote (annatto) and let it colour the butter deep orange for about 20 seconds.
1 minStep 3: Add 1 white onion, the white parts of 4 spring onions and 2 cloves garlic and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent but not brown.
4 minStep 4: Tip in the mote and fry, turning now and then, until the kernels are hot right through and a few have golden patches.
5 minStep 5: Whisk 4 eggs with ¼ cup whole milk, ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp ground black pepper. Turn the heat to low, pour the eggs over the mote and fold gently with a spatula.
1 minStep 6: Keep folding slowly until the egg has just set into soft, shiny curds. Take the pan off the heat while it still looks slightly wet: it finishes in its own heat.
2 minStep 7: Scatter over 3 ½ oz queso fresco, the green parts of the spring onions and 2 tbsp fresh coriander, and serve at once while the egg is soft.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mote pillo take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of white onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Bsissa
A tin of bsissa sits in many Tunisian kitchen cupboards, from Tunis flats to farmhouses in the south: a finely ground flour of roasted barley, roasted chickpeas and spices such as coriander, fennel and aniseed. In the morning a few spoonfuls are worked with olive oil and something sweet into a nutty, crumbly paste, or stirred with water into a thick drink, and it keeps you going until lunch. Travellers and pilgrims once carried it for the road. Roasting your own flour takes 15 minutes and makes a jar that lasts weeks. Sugar and dates keep it vegan; some families use honey. Chef's tip: roast the flours separately over a low heat and stir constantly; the moment they smell like toasted biscuits and turn light tan, tip them out of the pan.
Tunisian
Sabudana khichdi
Sabudana khichdi is the dish that sees Maharashtra through every vrat (fast), from Navratri to Ekadashi, but it's so good that people eat it any day of the week. Soaked sago pearls are tossed in a pan with crushed roasted peanuts, cubes of potato, cumin and green chilli until each pearl turns glassy and separate, then finished with lemon and coriander. It's soft, chewy, nutty and gently hot. Fasting rules vary from family to family, so check yours; this version uses rock salt and no asafoetida, onion or garlic. Traditionally it's cooked in ghee; use ghee instead of oil if you aren't keeping it vegan. Chef's tip: soak the sago in just enough water to cover by the height of the pearls themselves, no more; too much water is the reason khichdi turns into one sticky lump.
Indian
Doi chira
Nothing is cooked for doi chira, which is why it has been the breakfast of farmers and fishermen in Barisal for generations: flattened rice is rinsed, softened in thick, slightly sour curd and sweetened with jaggery or sugar, then mashed together with a ripe banana. The texture is soft and creamy with a little chew from the rice flakes, and the taste is cool, sweet and tangy. It is eaten on hot summer mornings, at village fairs and as part of the Pohela Boishakh spread, and it is a favourite of children and of anyone fasting who wants something gentle. The usual misstep is soaking the chira for too long, which turns it to paste; a quick rinse is all it needs before the curd does the rest. Chef's tip: use thick-cut chira, not the thin kind for frying, so the flakes hold their shape.
Bangladeshi