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 Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Remove the kernels from the corn cobs, ensuring to keep all the juice.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and mix them with the corn.
Season the mixture with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Fry
Heat a frying pan and drop spoonfuls of the mixture into it.
Fry until golden on one side, then flip and fry the other side.
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 + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Tender green corn
- Provides the main bulk and sweet flavor, with its juice adding moisture to the batter.
- Eggs
- Bind the corn together and set when cooked, giving the fritters structure.
The step that matters
Fry until golden on one side, then flip. Frying over steady heat lets the surface brown and set before flipping. Flipping too early can tear the fritter apart, since the batter is held together mainly by the eggs and needs time to firm up.
“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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