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
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine sweet corn, pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and paprika.
Gently fold in the beaten egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold into the mixture.
Fry
Drop small spoonfuls of the mixture into deep, hot fat.
Cook 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.
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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Flour + eggtop 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).
Flour and egg 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
- Egg whites beaten to stiff peaks lighten the batter and help the fritters puff and stay tender.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the starch that gives the fritters their body and holds the corn together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during frying, helping the fritters rise and become light.
- Sweet corn
- Supplies the main bulk, sweetness and moisture of the fritters.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that makes the fritters light; overmixing or stirring vigorously knocks out that air, so fold gently until just combined.
“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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