We’re entering a phase of recipes without photos here on my blog; the reason is that my tablet–which i use to snap the pictures–stopped communicating with my laptop which i used for posting, so you see my dilemma. I’m sure someone amongst my brilliant friends will rescue me from the situation. But meanwhile I just want to share the dishes that I make along the way.
Such as tonights green curry-corn fritter/pancakes.
Inspired by the Indonesian corn pancakes of a famous Indonesian food writer who no longer speaks to me for some crazy whacked out reason that i won’t even go into, let me just say: she may have ended her friendship with me, but she left me with the ability to make fabulous corn fritter/pancakes. And to love them to bits.
Mine are different from my ex-friends, though they started with her basics: chile, coriander leaves, aromatics (did she use ginger? garlic? onion? I no longer remember.). Her corn fritter/cakes reminded me of the happiness I had as a child tasting good old fashioned corn fritters, dipped in maple syrup. Perhaps I had them once; i remember them to this day.
My corn fritter/pancakes start when I see a couple of nice big fat ears of corn; if the ears are small and delicate, double the amount. I roll my way through my choice of herb, every so often discovering a new one that I like better than the old one. And I skip around the world of Asian flavourings because when I rediscovered corn fritter/pancakes I discovered that I love them the best with the punchy salty-umami-spiciness of Asian flavours. (In honesty, I played around with Mexican and Latin American flavourings too, and always came back to Asian ones.Though one never knows: my next batch? could easy be heading south of the border.
Tonight, seeing as how I had about 3 tablespoons of a mild though flavourful green chile paste on hand, that is what I used. And when I looked around for a fresh herb, I spied a big bunch of dill. Here is the result.
Green Curry Corn Fritter/Pancakes
Makes enough for 2 as a first course or greedy snack, to four if appetites are less…..exhuberant
All amounts of somewhat aproximate: the finished mixture should be like a thick batter, this side of dough. Almost like ricotta cheese with corn kernals in it.
2 big corn on the cobs; 3-4 small to medium ones
3 tablespoons mild but flavourful green curry (storebought)
About a teaspoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
1 egg
About 3 tablespoons fine polenta/cornmeal
1-2 green/spring onions, thinly sliced
About 6 tablespoons self-rising flour
Large pinch salt
About 1 teaspoon sugar, or more to taste
About 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill
Enough water–a few tablespoons–to make a thick batter
Splash hot pepper seasoning depending on the heat of the green curry paste
Olive oil for frying
Cut the kernals off the corn cobs using a knife; scrape as much of the milky substance from the cob as you can. Place in a bowl
Add the curry paste, the ginger if using, the egg, then stir in the polenta, green onion, and self rising flour. When its pretty much together add the salt, sugar, dill, and enough water to make a thick batter.
Heat a tiny amount of olive oil in a nonstick or stick resistance pan; when it smokes, make fritter/pancakes by dropping several tablespoons of the mixture into the pan. Lightly flatted with the back of a spoon or spatula but do not flatten thinly: you want them to be reasonably thick: perhaps 3/4 inch. If they are too fat you can lightly pat them flatter when you turn them over.
Over a medium high heat cook on one side until golden brown, then flip over and cook the second side. Remove to a shallow pan or baking sheet.
Eat right away or reheat in medium hot over for five to ten minutes.
They don’t really need anything to dip them into, though i did think that there must be the perfect thing for the job. Truthfully, they are good just as is.
They make a great appetizer or first course to any spicy, Asian-taste meal. We followed ours with a Japanese chicken stew, sukiyaki-style, and rice rolled into balls, in shiso leaves.
Marlena Spieler passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on July 6th, 2023 in her Hampshire, UK home with her dear Alan and Lambchop by her side.
With over 70 cookbook titles (including contributions) to her credit, Marlena conjures up flavours and dishes from the Mediterranean to Mexico, California to France to the Italian islands and single subjects such as chili peppers, olive oil, mushrooms, to a book on classic Jewish food from all over the world.
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