Fried Mush Balls, or Fried Pone
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Scald the cornmeal with the boiling water.
Add the melted lard, egg, cold water, and salt; mix well.
Shape and fry
Flour your hands and shape the mixture into round balls.
Fry the balls in a saucepan of hot lard until golden brown.
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
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the dough and gives the balls their corn flavor and texture.
- Boiling water
- Scalds the cornmeal, softening and swelling its starch so the dough holds together.
- Lard
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the outside brown and crisp when fried.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so the balls keep their shape while frying.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard. Oil that is hot enough sets the outside quickly, so the balls brown without absorbing much fat. If the lard is too cool, the coating soaks up grease and the balls turn heavy and oily.
“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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