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
Make the batter
Chop the corn and mix it with the flour, baking powder, and seasonings.
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 towels.
Serve as an entrée.
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 + 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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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 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
- Eggs
- Beaten whites fold in air for lightness, while the yolks add richness and help bind the batter.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and structure that hold the fritters together as they fry.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the fritters puff and turn lighter inside.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and texture to the batter.
The step that matters
Frying at the right heat. If the fat is too cool, the spoonfuls absorb oil and turn greasy and dense before a golden crust forms. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks through. The test of hot fat browning a bread cube in 60 seconds gives a reliable starting point.
“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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