I’m not sure a corn fritter being shallow-fried can still be named a fritter or not, but I’m going to call it that way. My version is not spicy. The flavour mainly depends on shallots, garlic and corn. I bet, most of the people would like these fritters.
Popular Indonesian Street Food
In Indonesia, there is a popular corn fritter which is very delicious and often selling on street stalls, called bakwan jagung.
Bakwan means meatballs and fried vegetables; jagung means corn. Refer to other bakwan jagung recipes, it engaged a lot of onions, garlic, chilli and corn to the batter then fry.
I blitz half of the corn with ginger, onion and garlic in order to get the fritter’s body more sweet, while keeping half corn kernels as a whole to retain some bites. After pan-frying, it’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Variation
Corn fritter, or corn cake, is fairly forgiving, adaptable and versatile that I often experience with different seasonings — cumin, coriander, garam masala, any spice you can name. Or, try without egg to make it animal-free like this Vegan Spiced Corn Cake.
Pan-fried Indonesian Corn Fritter (bakwan jagung) Recipe
Blitz the corn and aromatics into a paste, mix with egg, flour and seasoning, then pan-fry.
Ingredients
Serves 2 to 4 as part of a rice dish
- 130 g sweet corn kernels
- 1 scallion
- ½ banana shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp salted vegetable bouillon powder
- a pinch of white pepper
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 egg
How to Make
- Blitz half of the corn with scallion, shallot, ginger, garlic and seasonings into a paste.
- Add the corn paste, flour and egg to the remaining corn and mix well. The consistency should not be runny like pancake batter, but rather thick that it won’t spread out flat (see above picture). If it’s too thick, add a few drops of water gradually.
- Warm 2 tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat, spoon over a heaped spoonful of mixture into the pan.
- When the edge starts to turn brown, slip to another side and continue cooking until both sides are nicely coloured. Enjoy as it is or dip with ketchup.
