Thai corn fritters

A really quick and delicious sweetcorn take on Thai fish cakes.

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These crispy fritters can be rustled up in about 15 minutes – or a bit longer if oven-cooking them – and they taste utterly delicious. Served with a dipping sauce (sweet chilli sauce or a peanut sauce, for example) on a bed of crispy lettuce and you simply need to dive right in.

These are best shallow fried, but you can bake them in the oven if you prefer. Just place spoonfuls a little apart on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake for about 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C. The oven-based fritters are not as crisp as the fried fritters and they flatten out a bit as they bake, but they are still delicious: you can see them in the photo below, being dipped shamelessly into a peanut satay-style dipping sauce.

You can use any Thai curry paste: I love the warming layers you get from a good Massaman paste but Thai red curry paste is also sublime.

If you don’t have ginger or lime leaves, simply leave them out: you will still have a great dish if you just use the curry paste.

Recipe: Thai corn cakes – makes 6-8 large ones

Thai corn fritters

• 3 tablespoons sweetcorn (frozen, canned, fresh….)
• 1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1” piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 lime leaves, very finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Thai curry paste of choice
• 1 medium egg
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• about 50ml milk
• vegetable oil to fry

(1) Put the ingredients – apart from the oil – into a bowl and mix well, breaking up the egg as you mix to form a thickish batter that coats the corn and onion. If it is too runny, add a little more flour.

(2) Put about 1cm oil in a large pan and heat up over a medium heat. Test it is hot enough by dropping a little batter into the oil: it is hot enough when the batter immediately sizzles.

(3) Carefully add spoonfuls, a little apart, into the hot oil: use a teaspoon for bite-size fritters or a tablespoon for more substantial ones. Leave for about a minute before turning over and cooking the other side for about a minute: you want a golden-brown colour on both sides.

(4) Drain on kitchen paper and serve.

Thai corn fritters

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip