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
Beat the eggs until light, then add the corn.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper, then add to the egg and corn mixture.
Mix well.
Fry
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot oil and fry until golden brown.
Turn the fritters soon after dropping them in the oil and keep them turned often.
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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 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).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set when fried.
- Flour
- Provides the starch that gives the fritters their body and structure.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the fritters rise and stay light.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the hot oil.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness, moisture and texture to the fritters.
The step that matters
Turning the fritters. Turning them soon after they hit the oil and often afterward lets both sides cook and brown evenly, so the batter sets without burning on one side or staying raw inside.
“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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