Why it works: Corn and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,165 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Grate the corn from the ears.
In a bowl, combine the grated corn, eggs, flour, and salt.
Fry and drain
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil.
Fry until golden brown on both sides, then 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 + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Provides the main bulk, moisture, and natural sweetness of the fritters.
- Eggs
- Bind the grated corn and flour together so the fritters hold their shape.
- Flour
- Adds starch that helps the batter hold together and gives the fritters body.
- Oil
- Conducts heat to cook the fritters evenly and browns their surfaces.
The step that matters
Fry in properly hot oil. Oil must be hot before the spoonfuls go in. Hot oil sets the outside quickly and browns it, while oil that is too cool lets the batter soak up grease and turn soggy.
“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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