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
Prepare
Chop the corn.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, paprika, and cayenne.
Make the batter
Add the beaten egg yolks and fold in the beaten egg whites.
Fry and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot fat that browns a cube of bread in 60 seconds.
Cook until golden brown and drain on paper.
Serve as an entree.
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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the fritter together while it fries.
- Eggs
- Whites set into a light structure and yolks add richness and binding to the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the fritters puff and rise as they cook.
- Canned corn
- Adds moisture, sweetness and pieces of tender texture throughout each fritter.
The step that matters
Testing the hot fat before frying. Fat that is too cool lets the batter soak up oil and turn greasy, while the outside sets too slowly. Testing with a bread cube that browns in 60 seconds helps confirm the fat is hot enough for the fritters to brown and set quickly.
“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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