Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Cut and scrape the kernels from fresh corn or use canned corn.
In a bowl, combine the corn, beaten eggs, salt, and pepper.
Sift the flour with baking powder and add to the mixture.
Stir in enough sweet milk to achieve a drop batter consistency.
Fry
Heat oil in a pan and fry spoonfuls of the batter 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.
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 corn and flour together and help the fritters hold their shape.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch structure that sets the batter into a solid fritter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the fritters rise and turn light.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness, moisture and texture to the fritters.
- Sweet milk
- Thins the batter to a drop consistency and adds moisture and richness.
The step that matters
Fry spoonfuls of batter until golden brown. Frying at a steady heat browns the outside through the Maillard reaction while the inside cooks through. Too cool a pan lets the fritters soak up oil and turn greasy, and too hot a pan browns the outside before the centre sets.
“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.
More corn fritters recipes
You might also like
Cornmeal Griddle Cakes24 recipes
Corn Breakfast Cakes20 recipes
Delicate Cake246 recipes
Boiled Frosting69 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.