Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Grate the corn and place it in a bowl.
Add milk, pepper, salt, flour, and enough bread crumbs to achieve the right consistency.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Fry and drain
Heat lard in a pan over high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard and fry until golden brown.
Remove and drain on paper towels.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green corn
- Provides the main body and sweet corn flavour of the fritters.
- Eggs
- Beaten whites lighten the batter and help bind it while frying.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and firm up the batter to the right consistency.
- Flour
- Adds body to the batter and helps it hold together.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg whites hold air that helps the fritters rise and stay light. Stirring vigorously knocks out that air, leaving dense fritters.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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