Indonesian Corn Fritters (Dadar Jagung)
E&O Trading Company's Corn Fritters was featured on Food Network's show, Crunchy: The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Brian Boitano couldn't stop eating them.
The first two recipes below try to duplicate E&O Trading Company's Indonesian Corn Fritters.
The recipe on the left beats eggs whites until stiff to give them a light and airy texture.
The recipe on the right keeps the batter ingredients to a minimum to create an open texture to the fritters.
A third recipe, below the other two, is from someone's Indonesian mother and uses a spice paste for flavoring.
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A couple weeks ago, we had dinner at the E&O Trading Company in San Jose, CA. We found the restaurant to be a noisy, up-scale, Southeast Asian fusion restaurant that did not serve exceptional food. (Most of the food was high quality and very tasty, but you can get similar meals at a Thai or Malaysian restaurant for a third of the price.) One dish that did stand out was their Indonesian Corn Fritters which was served with a spicy soy sauce. I decided to make this dish at home for about a dollar.
2-1/2 cup of fresh corn (drained canned corn or frozen)
2 large egg yolks
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Cut the kernels off the corn a few rows at a time. We're trying to preserve the kernals, so cut a little deep. Run the back of the knife or your board scraper against the cob to extract the remaining bits of corn. We're looking for about 2-1/2 cup of corn. Canned sweet corn that's been drained will also work fine.
Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with a whisk. You can also use your stand mixer or hand mixer with a whisk attachment. You're done beating the egg whites once you achieve stiff peaks. Just dab your whisk into the whites and lift. If the egg white form points that don't droop down, then you've got stiff peaks. (If they droop then it's called soft peaks.) Stop whisking now, or you'll dry out the egg whites.
Lightly beat the egg yolk and then mix into the corn.
Add flour, salt, pepper, and sugar and mix.
Fold in the egg whites into the corn mixture.
After melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a nonstick skillet, place tablepoon sized heaps into the hot butter. You can also use oil instead of butter. Once they browned, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip them over and brown the other side.
I fashioned a quick sauce out of Sriracha chili sauce, soy sauce, and sugar to serve with them. |
This recipe is the result of several efforts to replicate the Indonesian Corn Fritters served at E&O Trading Co. These delicious fritters are easy to make but you will need to adjust the amount of flour and egg used each time according to the water content of the fresh corn. Best results come from starting with the smaller amounts recommended and adjusting from there. The "batter" is not even slightly runny but rather a loosely combined matrix with a sticky texture. The finished fritter should have an open, almost lacelike appearance. Too much egg will make them soggy and too much flour will prevent them from crisping properly.
2 cups corn, cut fresh from the cob
1 tsp garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup green onions, thinly chopped
1/2 cup onion or celery, small diced
1/4 to 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp pepper
healthy pinch salt
2 to 3 whole eggs, room temperature, beaten
Oil for frying
Prep all of your ingredients and set aside until you are ready to fry the fritters.
While the oil is heating to 300-325 degrees, combine all of the ingredients. The batter should have a slightly sticky texture without being too runny.
Using two tablespoons, scoop mixture into one and use the other spoon to coax the batter into the hot oil then quickly use the back of one spoon to gently "spread" the batter. Fritters should immediately "pop" to the surface after dropping into the oil.
Cook on each side until a dark golden brown. Drain on a rack. Do not keep in a warm oven or they will get soggy. Serve immediately with your choice of sauce.
Yield: approximately 12-15 3" fritters
Hot Chili Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs white vinegar
1 Tbs Sriracha Hot Sauce
2 tsps green onions, thinly chopped
Combine all ingredients. WARNING: reduce the amount of hot sauce if you don't like a bit of spicy heat. Other variations on this dipping sauce include substituting fresh lemon or lime juice for the all or part of the vinegar. Some people also like to add just a drop or two of sesame oil.
Yield: approximately 1/2 cup |
Here is a recipe for perkedel jagung (corn fritters) that was passed to me by an Indonesian friend's mother. There is one ingredient missing from this recipe as I could not decipher a few words on the handwritten recipe card. If anyone spots a glaring omission in the recipe, please let me know (I am not too sure, but I think it could be galangal). To me, this version is a lot more flavorful than the version that I had at the Taste of Honolulu earlier in the year. This is easy to make and is an excellent appetizer.
3 ears fresh corn, kernels removed from the cob
1 tablespoon chopped Chinese leeks (garlic chives)
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons rice flour
vegetable oil for frying
Spice paste
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
6 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rock salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Combine the coriander seeds, black peppercorns, shallots, garlic, rock salt and sugar in a mortar and pound until a smooth paste is formed. Set aside.
In a bowl, lightly pound corn, then add in spice paste mixing until well combined. Add in Chinese leeks, then add in the rice flour and toss to coat evenly. Add in beaten egg and stir until well blended.
Drop by the spoonful into hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and drain well.
makes betwen 8-10 "fritters"
