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
Make the batter
Combine drained corn, eggs, salt, pepper, baking powder, and flour in a bowl.
Add milk until batter is thick.
Fold in beaten egg whites gently.
Fry
Drop spoonfuls of batter into deep fat or fry in a pan 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 + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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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 + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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
- Corn
- Adds bulk, mild sweetness, and pieces of tender texture throughout the fritter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during frying to hold the fritters together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to lighten it and help the fritters rise.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the batter sets into a firm, sturdy fritter.
- Milk
- Loosens the batter to a thick, spoonable consistency and adds moisture.
The step that matters
Fold in beaten egg whites gently. Stirring vigorously knocks out the air trapped in the beaten whites, so the fritters turn out denser and less light. Gentle folding keeps that air in the batter, helping the fritters stay tender and rise in the hot fat.
“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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