Recipe for Ecuadorian mote pillo, this traditional breakfast dish consists of hominy sautéed with onions, garlic, achiote, eggs, milk, chives and cilantro or parsley, and served with hot black coffee and slices of fresh cheese.
Mote pillo is a traditional Ecuadorian dish of hominy corn with scrambled eggs. It is the perfect breakfast or brunch dish, but can also be served as main meal for lunch or a side dish for grilled or roasted meat dishes. Mote pillo is very easy and quick to make: the mote or hominy is sautéed with onions, garlic, achiote, eggs, milk, chives and cilantro or parsley.
Mote pillo is almost always served with hot black coffee and slices of fresh cheese. Mote or hominy is dry corn that has been peeled and then boiled until soft. You can cook the mote or hominy ahead of time, I usually make a large batch and keep some frozen so that it’s easily ready to make this dish.It is very easy to find it already prepared and canned in most grocery stores, usually in the canned vegetable section or in the ethnic section.
This Ecuadorian hominy dish is a traditional dish from the highlands or Sierra region in Ecuador. The city of Cuenca (and the whole province of Azuay) claim this dish as their specialty. My hometown of Loja is a few hours away from Cuenca, so we also eat a lot of mote or hominy in Loja. To me this is really one of the best comfort foods, like many other dishes from the Sierra it warms me up inside when I eat it.
Mote pillo or hominy with eggs
Ecuadorian mote pillo consists of hominy corn sautéed with onions, garlic, achiote, eggs, milk, chives and cilantro or parsley, and served with hot black coffee and slices of fresh cheese
1cupof diced white onioncan also use spring onions (white part only) or leeks (white part only)
2garlic clovescrushed
¼tspground achiote
¼cupmilk
2tbschopped chives or scallions
1tbsfinely chopped cilantro or parsley
Salt to taste
Serve with:
Queso fresco slices and black coffee
Instructions
Heat the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan, add the chopped onions, crushed garlic, achiote, and salt to make a refrito, cook until the onions/leeks are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the mote or hominy, stir in well and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the milk and cook until the milk is almost all absorbed by the hominy.
Whisk the eggs and add them to the hominy, stir well and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Stir in the chives and cilantro and add additional salt if needed.
Serve accompanied by queso fresco slices and hot black coffee.
Preparation photos for Ecuadorian mote pillo or hominy with eggs:
Thanks for this great and easy recipe. I am retired and I like to cook ” new” things while I am home and my wife is at work and save some for her to try when she gets home. I made this recipe this morning and am trying it as I type this and I honestly don’t know if I can save her any to try. This is absolutely delicious. I rinsed the canned hominy this time but I won’t tomorrow (wink, wink). Thanks for a great recipe. I’m glad I discovered your site and I’m sure I will spend lots of time in here.
I make this every other weekend and love it. Since getting a pressure cooker, I can do the corn in just 90 minutes. I always top it with Cotija cheese too.
I don’t think I’ll ever acquire a taste for mote, but my amor cuencano just loves it. we make motepillo with carne frito served with avocado and tomato slices. he’ll take hot chocolate or morocho over coffee every day of the week ;)
This was so good and flavorful. I was born in the states but my parents are 100% Ecuadorian. I remember trying this dish when I visited Cuenca and fell in love with it. This recipe is authentic and exceeded my expectations. I followed your advice and made hominy from scratch vs. the can. And what a difference in taste. I will never eat canned hominy again. My American husband and our friends love this dish. A lot of them have never tasted hominy. I love this website. Thank you so much Laylita for sharing these authentic recipes with us, keep up the good work! One more thing, I noticed that some people like to change the recipe but that defeats the purpose of making an authentic dish from Ecuador. It tastes perfect AS IS.
I’ve been looking for breakfast recipes and also needed to use up the extra hominy from making Posole! Thanks! Ate with corn tortillas and salsa verde.
Thanks so much for the recipe! My daughter and her family live in Cuenca (her husband is a Cuencano) and I have had the joy of visiting there twice. I’m working on a book for kids set in Ecuador, and needed to remind myself of some of the traditional Ecuadorian foods I had eaten there. I LOVE Cuenca, and can hardly wait for my next trip there, not only to see my daughter and grandchildren, but to be in that beautiful city again and to travel through the country.
Went to visit my son and his wife in Cuenca. She is from there and they just moved to Ecuador in April. I went the first of September, loved the food. This was so good and we had it and blanco at ever meal. Found the hominy at the grocery store and am ready to make it at home. Really looking forward to it.
Layla, I bought dried mote in Cuenca recently, so that I could make my own mote dishes. Question: do I need to soak/cook the dried corn kernels in Cal (quicklime) or can I just cook it for 3 hours, as the package direction states? I have no idea where to find quick lime here, can you assist?
Thanks for this great and easy recipe. I am retired and I like to cook ” new” things while I am home and my wife is at work and save some for her to try when she gets home. I made this recipe this morning and am trying it as I type this and I honestly don’t know if I can save her any to try. This is absolutely delicious. I rinsed the canned hominy this time but I won’t tomorrow (wink, wink). Thanks for a great recipe. I’m glad I discovered your site and I’m sure I will spend lots of time in here.
I make this every other weekend and love it. Since getting a pressure cooker, I can do the corn in just 90 minutes. I always top it with Cotija cheese too.
I don’t think I’ll ever acquire a taste for mote, but my amor cuencano just loves it. we make motepillo with carne frito served with avocado and tomato slices. he’ll take hot chocolate or morocho over coffee every day of the week ;)
This is a great recipe! Like others, I needed to use up some hominy.
I served it topped with sliced avocado, ranchero sauce and cotilla cheese.
I made this recipe today, like in the picture Just perfect & delicious! Thank U Laylita.
This was so good and flavorful. I was born in the states but my parents are 100% Ecuadorian. I remember trying this dish when I visited Cuenca and fell in love with it. This recipe is authentic and exceeded my expectations. I followed your advice and made hominy from scratch vs. the can. And what a difference in taste. I will never eat canned hominy again. My American husband and our friends love this dish. A lot of them have never tasted hominy. I love this website. Thank you so much Laylita for sharing these authentic recipes with us, keep up the good work! One more thing, I noticed that some people like to change the recipe but that defeats the purpose of making an authentic dish from Ecuador. It tastes perfect AS IS.
Layla, this looks good! I wonder how this would work with some yapingacho (peanut butter) sauce and maybe some chopped peanuts mixed in.
Or, for a fusion taste, add a little curry powder and substitute tofu for cheese. Either way, I’d sure like to try this one out!
I’ve been looking for breakfast recipes and also needed to use up the extra hominy from making Posole! Thanks! Ate with corn tortillas and salsa verde.
Thanks so much for the recipe! My daughter and her family live in Cuenca (her husband is a Cuencano) and I have had the joy of visiting there twice. I’m working on a book for kids set in Ecuador, and needed to remind myself of some of the traditional Ecuadorian foods I had eaten there. I LOVE Cuenca, and can hardly wait for my next trip there, not only to see my daughter and grandchildren, but to be in that beautiful city again and to travel through the country.
Went to visit my son and his wife in Cuenca. She is from there and they just moved to Ecuador in April. I went the first of September, loved the food. This was so good and we had it and blanco at ever meal. Found the hominy at the grocery store and am ready to make it at home. Really looking forward to it.
Layla, I bought dried mote in Cuenca recently, so that I could make my own mote dishes. Question: do I need to soak/cook the dried corn kernels in Cal (quicklime) or can I just cook it for 3 hours, as the package direction states? I have no idea where to find quick lime here, can you assist?
Sarah – If you bought dried mote it has already been treated with cal, so you just need to boil, here are some instructions: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2009/01/16/mote-or-hominy/