Middle Eastern Style Street Corn is a delicious twist on Mexican street corn, using yogurt, lemons and sumac in place of mayonnaise, limes and chile powder. If you love the original, I promise you will also love this Middle Eastern version!
I actually made this yogurt sauce as a dipping sauce for a Middle Eastern spiced chicken–but it was so amazing on the corn that I immediately scrapped all plans of photographing the chicken and turned this post into a Middle Eastern Style Street Corn post. Except for John, who prefers his corn on the cob never have anything on it (which I will never understand–he loves if I serve the exact same flavors on corn kernels!), we all adored this corn. Â I cannot recommend enough that you give this a try while it is still sweet corn season–the flavors are a match made in heaven!
If you are not familiar with sumac powder, I advise you try some! It is a sour berry that is native to the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, and it is crucial to Arabic cooking, prized for its fruity sourness. It complements the corn perfectly with the lemon and yogurt, and is wonderful as a spice rub for meat as well. I used it both on a broiled chicken served with this corn, and the next night I used it in a ground meat mixture to make kofta. As much as I love citrus, sumac has a depth to it that citrus cannot mimic, and it is a versatile addition to your spice cabinet.
This recipe easily scales up so make more if you are serving corn on the cob for a crowd. The corn may be cooked any way you desire, but for the most authentic street corn experience, it should be grilled or roasted until lightly charred.
- 1 smashed garlic clove
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup whole fat greek yogurt
- 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cobs of corn, shucked
- lemon wedges
- 1-2 T sumac powder
- coarse or flaky sea salt for sprinkling
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Whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Let sit for 15 minutes. Remove garlic clove before serving if desired (I do not mince the garlic, because this way the garlic infuses the sauce without upsetting my stomach as raw garlic is wont to do).
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Run a lemon wedge over the freshly boiled, roasted or grilled cob of corn. Schmear 1-2 tablespoons of the yogurt sauce over the corn. Sprinkle with the sumac powder and coarse or flaky sea salt. Serve immediately.
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