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Monday, 3 November 2014

#ewew cooks Corn Fritters

Watching an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Crunchy" on the Food Network, I was inspired to try my hand at making these little morsels of crunchy delight called Corn Fritters.
 
As this is a restaurant dish I'm trying to replicate, the exact amount of each ingredient used was not shown in the clip, so I'm just 'winging' it here.
 
Ingredients:

2 corns of cob (or 1 1/2 cups freshly cut corn kernels)
1 stalk (US) celery
1 medium onion
5 sprigs spring onions
3 cloves garlic
1 egg
5 - 8 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Preparation:
 
Cut the corn kernels from the 2 corns of cob.  You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of corn kernels (or you can buy the corn kernels that are already cut up for you).  I use this bi-colour sweet corn which costs a little bit more (RM3.50 for one but has a sweeter taste) than the normal ones.
 
Dice up all the other vegetables - the celery, onion, spring onions and garlic.
 
Method:
 
Throw all the diced up vegetables into a large bowl, mix it around and season to taste.
 
Put in one beaten egg and 5 - 8 tbsp of plain flour.  The one here was done with 5 tbsp of flour but it didn't come out as crunchy as I had expected.  So, I think some tweaking needs to be done with the egg to flour ratio.  Also, as eggs comes in 3 grade sizes, it really depends on the size of the egg that you're using.  My suggestion would be to just 'eyeball' it - just add more flour until the mix is no longer wet.
 
Your mixture is now ready to be turned into Corn Fritters.  Just put a spoonful of the mix into hot oil and fry till golden brown.
 
Dish up the fried corn fritters and drain on paper towels.
 
And here's my homemade fried Corn Fritters that turned out pretty tasty but not as crunchy as I had hoped.  The burst of sweetness when you bite into the crunchy corn + the crunch of the other vegetables makes this a tasty treat indeed.
 
And that was the happy part......
 
.....now comes the sad part T_T
 
You know what happens when corn comes into contact with heat, right?  Well....they pop (obviously)...that's why they're called.....popcorn, people!!!  So, guess what happens when you put corn into hot oil, well, they pop too....plus oil will splatter all over.  Needless to say, I got some splatters of oil on my hands and lots of splatters of oil all over my kitchen.....what a mess!
 
What was I thinking?  I should have known better than to try to replicate a dish cooked by a professional chef in a professional kitchen.  It's not a dish that I would recommend you to try but I decided (still) to put it on my blog for the "pain" I suffered making it!  Safe to say that would be my first....and last time making it :(  But, at least, I got to eat it...once!!  I think I should leave this in the hands of capable professionals and not mess with it.
 
So, try it.....if you dare...or if you want a challenge...or if you like "pain"...or you're just plain mad :D :D :D
 
Serves 3 - 4 (you can get about 20 pcs of corn fritters)

16 comments:

  1. Oh, these must be very good with chilli sauce! I have made corn and vegetable fritters and luckily for me the corn did not pop or I would have freaked out hah..hah...

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    Replies
    1. BTW, addition of baking powder will help make your fritters crunchy.

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    2. That's not fair :D :D :D Why didn't yours pop? And mine gave me hell!

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    3. Oh, I didn't know that...thanks for the tip! How much would I need to put...just a tsp?

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    4. You can check my old post here :
      http://phonghongbakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/corn-and-vegetable-fritters.html

      or : http://mamawandiha.blogspot.com/2011/04/cucur-udang-rangup.html

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  2. Fresh corn? Wow!!! I salute you! They just use the canned ones...and more batter, less corn...all buried inside the fritter. Would be nicer your way, I'm sure...can taste the corn, not just the batter. Oh? They pop, eh? Now I'm having second thoughts about cooking this - maybe the canned ones will not pop.

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    Replies
    1. I must say the fresh corn tasted damn awesome....you can feel the burst of juice when you bite into the corn. I suppose you can ask Phong Hong what kind of corn she used since hers didn't pop....or get your wok cover ready as a defense shield!

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  3. My mum used to make corn fritters when I was a child. They've recently seen a revival as popular items in Aussie cafes. I like them with sweet chili sauce and avocado crush.

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    Replies
    1. I think I should look for these in Aussie-inspired cafes (as you mentioned) instead of cooking it myself...which was a disaster!

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  4. yikes, luckily you weren't too badly hurt, ya ... but hey, the results look very tasty & nicely 'corn-y'. if you passed them over to me, i'd finish 'em for you in five minutes :) maybe can try for another corn recipe that's a bit less risky next...

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    Replies
    1. I go thru the 'pain' but you get the 'gain'....I don't think so :D :D. Try another corn recipe...not anytime soon....I've been 'scarred' for life!

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  5. Huh? So they popped even when inside the batter? That's surprising. You need more flour then I suppose ;)

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    Replies
    1. Problem was....this recipe had a lot more corn than batter! Probably, that's why they popped so vigorously. I suppose you're right, it needed more flour but it wouldn't taste as good then.

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    2. And oh.....thanks for dropping by.

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  6. I thought only dried corn kernels pop. Fresh ones also? Oh my, must made a mess in your kitchen but luckily you are ok. I have not eaten any before. Are they like cucur udang?

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    Replies
    1. These bi-colour corn are just bursting with juice inside and that probably contributed to the insane popping. Texture wise, it's different from cucur udang which has a thick batter. These were more like a vegetable fritter with loads of vege.

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