Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the corn, cracker crumbs, eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.
Beat the mixture thoroughly until well combined.
Fry
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into deep hot fat for frying.
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.
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 + 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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 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
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture together and help the fritters hold their shape while frying.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and gives the fritters body so they hold together.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb moisture and add bulk, helping the batter firm up around the corn.
- Corn
- Provides the main body, sweetness and texture of the fritters.
The step that matters
Drop spoonfuls into deep hot fat. Fat that is not hot enough lets the batter soak up oil and turn greasy, while the outside may brown before the centre sets. Hot fat seals the surface quickly so the fritters cook through and stay crisp.
“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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