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 ↓
Hominy and Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine corn or hominy, eggs, salt, and flour.
Thin the mixture with a little cold milk.
Once cooled, add baking powder and mix thoroughly.
Fry
Drop tablespoonfuls into deep hot fat.
Fry until golden brown, similar to doughnuts.
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 + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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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).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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 or hominy
- Provides the bulk and the main texture of the fritters.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when fried, giving the fritters structure.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and helps it hold its shape in the hot fat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the batter so the fritters puff and stay tender.
The step that matters
Adding the baking powder after cooling. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it is wet and heated, so adding it to a warm mixture can cause it to lose lift before frying. Mixing it in once the batter has cooled and frying promptly keeps the fritters light.
“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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