Elote Corn Fritters
On 2022-09-24, my daily NYT email contained a link to a recipe for corn fritters. That reminded me that corn was in season and at its peak, and also of another video I watched recently called "3 Ways We Use Corn" by About to Eat. In that video, Andrew made elote corn fritters, essentially corn fritters with additional ingredients and flavors reminiscent of elote. I was inspired to give it a try, and I was not disappointed. I had never made fritters before in the past and completely handwaved the ingredient amounts, but despite that it turned out wonderfully. It's a classic flavor combination, with an even more bomb textural contrast. A great party appetizer; I would definitely recommend giving this a try.
Active Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
Batter mixture:
> egg (2)
> flour (1 cup)
> baking powder (1 tsp)
> water (1 cup)
> salt + pepper (to taste)
Everything else in the mixture:
> corn (4 ears, cut from the cob)
> red onion (1/2 - 3/4, thinly sliced)
> cilantro (1/2 bunch, roughly chopped)
> lime (juice of 2)
> ancho chili powder (about 2 tsp)
> cotija cheese (about 1/4 cup)
Putting everything together:
> cotija cheese
> cilantro
> crema
> lime wedges
> neutral oil
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Then add flour, baking powder, water, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly until fully combined. The resulting consistency should be moderately thick.
2. Add the red onion, cilantro, lime, ancho chili powder, and cotija cheese. Add about 3/4 of the corn, mix thoroughly, then add more corn until the desired batter : ingredient ratio is achieved. It should maintain a sticky texture and hold together, but no ideally no more than that.
3. In a pot with ~1 inch of oil, shallow-fry the corn fritters. The exact size of each fritter doesn't really matter, but make sure to flatten each fritter. Fry for a couple minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Set aside on a wire rack or paper towel.
4. Final preparations: arrange several fritters on a plate, top with crema, cotija cheese, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Don't worry about nailing the exact consistency of the batter. As long as it's roughly in the right ballpark (moderately thick), it should be fine. The purpose of the batter is mainly just to hold the other ingredients together; everything else should be the star of the show.
> The best way to tell whether you have the right ingredient / batter ratio is to simply do a test fry! Honestly, I hand-waved most of the ingredient amounts here. After a batch or two, you'll get the hang of it. Adjust the ingredient amounts (especially seasoning and acidity) as necessary.
> Corn pops. Some videos that I've watched claim that this doesn't happen, but mine definitely did, which led to some unfortunate oil splashes and burns. Definitely use a splatter guard when frying to mitigate the splashes at least somewhat, and remove any miscellaneous loose kernels after each batch (those are generally the ones that pop)
> The provided ingredient amounts will make a LOT of fritters, maybe like 12-16 depending on how large you make them. You can definitely halve the recipe for a more reasonable amount.