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 Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Grate the corn from the ears.
In a bowl, combine the grated corn, eggs, baking powder, and salt.
Add enough flour to create a thick batter.
Fry
Heat lard in a frying pan over medium heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot lard and fry until golden brown on both sides.
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 + 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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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
- Corn
- Provides the bulk and sweet flavour of the fritters.
- Eggs
- Bind the grated corn and flour together so the batter holds its shape.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the fritters rise and turn light.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter so it holds together when dropped into the fat.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and browns the outside of the fritters.
The step that matters
Drop the batter into hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisping. Heating the lard first sears the outside quickly so the fritters brown evenly and hold their shape.
“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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