Humita Chilean

Medium·35 min

Fresh corn ground to a paste with onion, basil and a touch of ají, wrapped in its own husks and gently cooked. The Chilean style is distinguished by sweet corn and fragrant basil, eaten dusted with sugar or alongside a tomato salad.

A pre-Hispanic Andean dish (from Quechua 'umint'a') found across Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina; the Chilean version is set apart by basil and green chili.

Soft and just-set, the corn is sweet and milky with a savory backbone from onion and the herbal lift of basil. Eaten warm from the husk, it is comforting and faintly smoky from the wrapper; a dusting of sugar tips it toward dessert, a tomato salad keeps it savory.

Grinding fresh corn releases its starch and milk, which set into a tender custard-like mass as it cooks. The husk wrapper traps steam for even, gentle cooking and lends a subtle grassy aroma, while basil and ají give the Chilean version its signature savory edge.

Variations

In Chile the main split is sweet (dusted with sugar) versus savory (served with a tomato salad), the corn often enriched with onion fried in lard; cheese- or meat-filled and heavily chili-spiked versions belong more to Argentina and Peru. Some are wrapped and steamed, others simmered in water.

On the Palate

Where Humita Chilean sits in the Chilean flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

8 earsCorn

from the cobsCorn Husk

How it's made

8 steps · 35 min

1
10 min
Carefully peel whole husks off the corn cobs and reserve the best ones for wrapping.
2
8 min
Cut the kernels from the cobs and grind or blend them to a coarse paste.
Watch out
Grind to a coarse paste that still shows flecks of kernel and drips its own milky liquid — that starchy corn milk is what sets into custard.
3
6 min
Saute finely chopped onion in a little fat until soft, then cool slightly.
4
4 min
Mix the corn paste with the onion, chopped basil, ají and salt.
5
12 min
Lay out pairs of husks, spoon in filling, fold into parcels and tie with husk strips.
Watch out
Fold and tie the husks snug but not bursting — leave a little room so the filling can swell as it sets.
6
3 min
Stand or lay the humitas in a pot with a little simmering water.
7
45 min
Cook gently, covered, until the filling sets firm.
Watch out
Keep the water at a bare simmer and cook until a poked parcel feels firm, not sloshy — boiling hard splits the husks.
8
4 min
Rest briefly, then unwrap and serve, dusted with sugar or with a tomato salad.