How to make the perfect sweetcorn fritters – recipe | Food

AAccording to Southern Living magazine (who ought to know, after all), “nothing puts a smile on a Southerner’s face like deliciously crunchy, golden corn pancakes fresh from the fryer.” And they’re not alone: ​​I suspect the sunny yellow kernels evoke the same reaction of Thai ridicule death man khao pod or Colombians stuck in a plate reganonas; they never fail to please my greedy heart.

Sweetcorn is one of those vegetables, like peas, where the sugar converts to starch the moment it’s picked, meaning it’s worth eating as much of it as possible during the short UK season – grilled on on the cob, on toast and in today’s delicious little donuts. However, they’re pretty well done even with the can variety.

the corn

In the UK at least, fresh corn is something to seize when it first appears in late summer and can only be enjoyed as long as the season lasts (imported corn is often dry and starchy rather than sweet). Luckily, it’s entirely possible to make very decent donuts out of the canned stuff too, although I find the texture is less satisfying because the kernels are much softer. North Carolina-born food writer James Villas and Tennessee-born Rufus Estes, one of the first African Americans to use in the early 20’s and while not mandatory, I think this is a good idea; it seems to make the corn juicier somehow. (Metered corn is already cooked, so skip this step if using.)

Most recipes fold the whole kernels into a batter, but chef Anne Rosenzweig, formerly at New York’s much-loved 1980s institution Arcadia, purees it instead, lending her blini-like fritters a delightful sweetness and creaminess that even Villa’s recipe couldn’t match in The Glory of Southern Cooking contains half and half (a 50:50 mixture of cream and milk that has a fat content roughly equivalent to what we call single cream in the UK). It tastes even better if, as Cook’s Illustrated magazine says, first brown the puree in a frying pan, which “drives away excess moisture and deepens the flavor even more.” However, I love the texture of the whole kernels, especially when used in bulk like Villas’ version where the kernels are barely held together by the batter, so I’ll be using both here.

dry goods

Whatever you do with these kernels, you have to bind them with something or you’ll end up with crispy fried corn, which while delicious, doesn’t need my help to make. Most recipes I try involve a wheat flour batter, often with a leavening agent as well, but that seems a shame when cornmeal is so readily available. Without gluten, however, you’re going to struggle to hold your cakes together in the pan, so like Rosenzweig, I’m going to combine the two. She uses equal amounts of each, while like the late great cook Edna Lewis and her collaborator at The Gift of Southern Cooking, Scott Peacock, I will use as little wheat flour as I can without making the donuts difficult to handle. However, unlike Lewis and Peacock, I won’t add leavening agent for the simple reason that I find the unraised versions of Villas and Rosenzweig so crunchy and delicious that it feels unnecessary. Another top tip from Cook’s Illustrated: A little cornstarch provides a crispier texture. It turns out that “its microscopic starch granules hydrate and swell into strand-like shapes in the dough, and then continue to swell as the dough meets the hot oil. As the moisture evaporates during frying, the swollen starch granules snap and form a brittle network with many holes. The result? Pointier, crispier donuts.” Sold.

liquids

Everyone uses eggs — an extra yolk in Rosenzweig’s rich restaurant recipe, whipped egg whites for an extra lift in chef Brad McDonald’s Take in his book Deep South: New Southern Cooking, and also in Lewis and Peacock’s, although I’ll keep mine simpler. However, I love the taste of their buttermilk, which has a more interesting flavor than the usual milk or water in Bill Granger’s case, or even Villa’s more decadent creme. But if you can’t get one, use diluted plain yogurt, plain kefir, or even just milk.

flavors

Good fresh corn doesn’t really take much more than a pinch of salt to bring out its sweetness, but if you’re serving this as a main dish rather than a side, you might be interested in gilding the lily. Options I try include chives (rose sprig), shredded onions (Lewis and Peacock) from the onion family, and Granger’s scallions, my favorite for their fresh taste. I’m also trying green pepper (Villas) and fresh cilantro (Granger), but honestly if it goes with corn and it’s not too wet (e.g. deseed tomatoes, squeezing grated zucchini) you can fold it in here, if that is chopped ham or crumbled feta. I chose a mild green chilli. You can also add dried spices, like Granger does – he opts for ground coriander, cumin and paprika, but the fritters are your oyster (though I’m not sure how any of those would work as an ingredient here, to be honest) .

The cooking

Lewis and Peacock’s recipe, as well as Southern Living’s, which attributes it to a Georgia reader named Lynne Weeks, is for fried corn pies and more closely resembles what I would take for a quiet pup, although Lewis and Peacock, who are very the Experts agree that Hush Puppies do not contain whipped egg whites. (Sam and Shauna, formerly of the award-winning Hang Fire Southern Kitchen and authors of the book of the same name, explain that silent puppies tend to be smaller, denser, and don’t contain fresh corn — although McDonald’s does, so clearly it’s not a hard and fast rule.)

Anyway, as much as I like both their plump cupcakes and Southern Living’s sugar and salt flavored donuty cakes, I prefer the fresher, corn-heavy pan-fried varieties because the caramelization occurs when the sweetcorn comes into contact with a hot pan is a spell not easily sacrificed. (If you’re looking for something fried, let me point you to Lewis and Peacock’s recipe.)

Serve it with crème fraîche and caviar if you’re a Rosetwig, with refried beans and avocado salad if you’re a Granger, or with fried chicken and red beans and rice if you’re Southern Living. Basically, corn fritters go well with most things, including a cold beer.

Perfect corn cake

preparation 20 minutes
Cook 10 mins
Makes About 10 and easily doubled

2 corn cobsto get 250 g of kernels (or 250g canned and drained corn)
5 tablespoons fine or medium cornmeal
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp cornmeal
Salt
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
4 spring onionstrimmed and finely sliced
1 mild green chilifinely chopped or a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
neutral oilto fry

If using fresh corn on the cob, remove the husk if necessary, place the corn on the cob in a saucepan of boiling, lightly salted water for a minute, then drain.

Place the cornmeal, flour, cornstarch, and a good pinch of salt in a large bowl and whisk together.

Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk, then stir into the dry ingredients.

Place each blanched corn on the cob, blunt end down on a cutting board and run a knife along to strip off the kernels.

Puree 50 g of it (or seeds from the can) with a stick or mini blender to a puree.

Heat a dash of oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stir-fry the puree until thickened and lightly browned…

…then add to the batter with the remaining whole seeds and the onion and chili, if using.

Stir until all of the vegetables are coated in batter, then add enough oil to a skillet to just cover the bottom.

Set the heat to medium-high and, once hot enough to sizzle a piece of corn, add rounded spoonfuls of the mixture to the pan and flatten very lightly.

Be sure to leave enough space between them so you can flip them easily – you’ll likely need to cook them in two or more batches.

Reduce the heat slightly and fry until golden brown on the bottom and beginning to dry on top, then turn very carefully and fry on the other side.

Drain on a wire rack or kitchen paper and serve hot.

Corn Fritters: Are they the best since corn on the cob, where does your favorite variety come from and how do you serve it?