Monday 24 April 2017

Zucchini and Corn Fritters


I love fritters. Do you? The first fritters I ate was my late grandma's cucur udang (which she calls "genang udang") and subsequently I forgot all about fritters until an aunt's Indonesian maid served freshly fried vegetable fritters during a visit some years ago.

It was Kris' post on the Zucchini and Corn Fritters that she had at a restaurant that got me itching for these fritters hee..hee... Well, I don't have a chance to go to that place anytime soon, so I had to DIY my own fritters.


So. I went to Jaya Grocer to get two ears of corn and one medium sized zucchini.  That weekend I was all set and raring to go!

Removing corn kernels can be a messy affair. I once had corn kernels flying everywhere and landing on the kitchen counter, in the sink and on the floor. Bah! 

This time I wised up. I put the stainless steel tray that I saved from last year's Chinese New Year poon choy to good use. I also cut each ear of corn into half for easier handling. 


Then I grated the zucchini using a box grater. To remove excess moisture, I basically took small handfuls of the grated zucchini and squeezed by hand.

Then I made the batter. Now, I don't have an exact recipe as I just eyeballed it. I started off with 1.5 cups of self-raising flour and 0.5 cup of rice flour. To that I added 1 tablespoon each of onion and garlic powder and 1 heap teaspoon of sea salt and black pepper All these were whisked to evenly mix everything together.

Then I added water, bit by bit until I had a batter that was neither too watery nor too thick. I also added an egg. I added a bit more flour after that because the batter was too liquid. After that, I added the corn and grated zucchini.


I heated up my cast iron pan and added some oil. To test if the oil was hot enough, I simply took a bit of batter and dropped in into the oil. It sizzled and floated, which meant that my pan was ready.


I used a soup ladle to scoop the batter and dropped it gently into the hot oil. As you can see, my first batch were big ass fritters heh...heh...

These are the steps I observed which I am listing down here for my future reference and I hope that it will help if you are making fritters for the first time.

1. The batter must not be too watery or too thick (use your own judgement). You have to take into account that the zucchini will continue to release water as the batter stands while you are frying up a batch.

2. Make sure that the oil is very hot. 

3. Before scooping the batter, give it a stir first. Do this every time before you drop a fresh batch of batter into the hot oil.

Then scoop the batter and drop it gently into the oil. To get a nice even shape, drop the batter in such a way that it piles onto itself (I hope you understand what I mean).

4. Don't be in a hurry to flip the fritter. Let the bottom part form a crust and the fritter firm up first before flipping or else you will end up with a mess.

5. You can flip the fritter a few times to achieve the level of browning that you like. Remove from pan and drain on a wire rack or metal strainer.

I find that if you drain it on a plate lined with kitchen towels, it tends to get soggy. Let it cool on the rack first before draining on kitchen towels.


I tested one fritter when it was cool enough heh..heh... Whoah nice leh, so crispy and so tasty!


I love these with sweet chili sauce and these fritters stay crispy while they are warm.


I'm sorry I am not able to put a recipe because I agak-agak all my ingredients. There are many recipes you can google and many variations to what you can put into your fritter.

34 comments:

  1. I love fritters especially cucur udang and cucur pisang.

    Yours look yummy. Great to take anytime.

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    1. I think I shall try cucur udang next hah..hah..

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  2. Hi Phong Hong,lovely fritters. I know these are crispy as I can see the tiny little holes in it. Agreed is good with chilli sauce and I love the idea of using corn kernels and zuchini to fry fritters.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! It was so good. I reheated some in the oven for dinner. Though not as crispy as fresh, still I can wallop hee..hee...

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  3. Wow, your fritters look really good...and I'd like to make them at hom too! ;) I have 2 questions. 1) Did you use cooked or raw corn? 2) Did the corn splatter when fried? I'm very afraid to make these again after my disaster last time when the corn popped and splattered oil all over my kitchen! :O

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    1. Thanks! OK, answering your questions (1) I used raw corn and (2) No. nothing exciting like that happened hah..hah... I wonder how is it that your corn popped. But rest assured, none of that happened in my kitchen and you can safely make a batch of corn fritters. I am looking forwards to seeing your version :)

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  4. How I wish there's a piece in front of me right now... hehe...

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  5. I like to eat cucur udang so I would like to eat your zucchini and corn fritters too. Good for you for being so diligent to make your own fritter!

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    1. I love fritters, so I had to make the effort. So worth it hee..hee..

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  6. Life would be so wonderful if I can always eat the food you cooked, your partner sure is a very lucky man.

    I am hungry looking at the fritters now

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    1. My partner did not eat any because deep fried food give him sore throat. Sound familiar?

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  7. My girl loves this - her friends used to make when they were in New Zealand. Can't eat them now, no wheat flour for her and replacing it with other types of flour is just not the same. :(

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    1. That's too bad. Pity your girl, so much she missed out :(

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  8. I love fritters! I'd probably pan fry mine though and cut back on some of that oil.

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  9. I normally peel the corn kernels by hand, ya one by one :P My way to de-stress actually.... :P
    I have self raising flour but don't have rice flour >_<

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    1. What? Peel one by one? Pengsan leh hah...hah...

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  10. Looking at the photo of your 'zucchini and corn fritters' reminds me of 'begedil' lah, PH. Out of sudden, I feel like want to go home and start doing begedil ^_^

    Rajin tak I this time? By looking at the photo and reading your entry, terus teruja nak masuk dapur ^_^

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    1. Good lah, MD. My photo can motivate you. OK, nanti I post gulai, OK? hah...hah...

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  11. Whooa! You are so talented and creative to use the steel tray beneath the chopping board. I never could think of this idea but always used old newspapers beneath instead. Thank you Diva Chef!

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    1. LOL! The idea just popped into my head and it worked.

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  12. Kami baru buat cucuq ikan bilis sat ni tau LL. Habis separuh pibggan kami makan sorang haha...
    LL nape tak beli je sweet corn frozen yg dlm plastik tu. Tak payah dah nak bergaduh mengemas corn yang merata tu hihi...

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    1. LL lebih suka corn yang fresh. Yang frozen2 tak main lah hee..hee.. Oh, buat cucur bilis ye? Makan sorang2 ye? hee..hee.. Nanti LL nak cuba buat cucur bilis pulak. Mesti sedap, ek?

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  13. I love crispy fried food and I am not afraid to eat them. Ha ha. I will try this when I get some sweet corn. Thanks for sharing your yummy fritters. Drooling!

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    1. Nancy, we are so brave wahahahaha!! I am OK with oil and deep fried foods. After all we don't eat this type of food everyday.

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  14. crunchy kat luar..lembut kat dalam kan..

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    1. Betul tu, Suzana. Cicah dengan sos cili. Terangkat!

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  15. These must be very very tasty indeed! Looks good too.

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    1. They were tasty! I had many pieces hee..hee...

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