Crispy Corn Fritters with Fresh Cilantro

My oldest daughter has always loved Southern food, which may have contributed to her decision to go to college in Kentucky. I’ve got a trip planned to go down to Lexington to see her at the end of the month, and in typical fashion our plans are all revolving around the new restaurants she wants me to come try with her. There’s Alfafa’s  that has the most delicious pancakes I have ever eaten along with cheese grits and country ham. I love to eat at Doodles, (which stole my idea of opening a place in an old garage) and serves “comfort food with a conscience”, serving local organic food whenever possible. They’ve got a terrific assortment of delicious offerings including Pigs and Puffs; four pieces of crisp bacon resting on top of four fluffy New Orlean’s style beignets. Yumm! Eating these inspired me to make my own, and you’ll find that post here.

I think I made fritters for the first time when I was in my teens. I made small donut-hole sized apple fritters. I loved them and they were so much better than the enormous fritters I found in stores around here. With local corn season in full swing here we’ve been eating some really great ears. I thought this recipe for corn fritters would be a good way to highlight this season’s corn. I got the recipe from a great cookbook I have by Williams Sonoma called Breakfast Comforts. The only thing I changed was to add a little more onion and cilantro. Isn’t everything better with more cilantro in it?

Crispy Corn Fritters with Fresh Cilantro

Makes about 24 fritters

Canola oil for deep-frying
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup fresh (or frozen) corn kernels
3 tablespoons minced yellow onion
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Pour oil to a depth of at least 3 inches into a large, heavy saucepan, preferably cast iton, and heat over high heat to 350 degrees F on a deep-frying thermometer. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Place a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and place near the stove.


While the oil is heating, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.


Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs and pour into the well in the flour mixture.


Stir just until combined.


Gently fold in the corn, onion, and cilantro.


3. In batches to avoid crowding, add tablespoonfulls of the batter to the hot oil.


Deep-fry the fritters until golden brown, turning once at the halfway point, about 3 minutes.


Using a wire skimmer or a metal slotted spoon, transfer to the rack and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining fritters.


Serve at once.


The original recipe called for serving the fritters with maple syrup, but we found barbeque sauce was a really great dipping sauce with them.