Corn fritter facts for kids
Bowl of corn fritters
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| Type | Fritters |
|---|---|
| Course | Snack |
| Place of origin | Native American cuisine |
| Region or state | Americas, Southeast Asia, Oceania & Isle Of Man |
| Created by | Indigenous peoples of the Americas |
| Main ingredients | Corn, egg, flour, milk and butter |
Corn fritters are tasty fried snacks. They are made from a dough or batter that has lots of corn.
These yummy treats first came from Native American cooking. Today, you can find them as a sweet or savory snack in the Southern United States. In Indonesia, they are known as perkedel jagung or bakwan jagung.
Contents
The Story of Corn Fritters
For thousands of years, Native Americans used ground corn (also called maize) to make many foods. This was long before European explorers came to the Americas. Foods like corn flatbread, arepa, and cornbread were very important daily meals for them.
Native Americans didn't use deep frying techniques. This is because deep frying needs a lot of cooking oil. It also requires special tools to heat the oil very hot.
How Corn Fritters Started
European settlers learned how to cook with corn from Native Americans. Soon, they started making their own cornmeal-based versions of European breads. These new recipes used corn, which was easy to find in the Americas.
The corn fritter was probably invented in the Southern United States. This region's traditional food often includes many deep fried dishes. One famous example is Southern fried chicken.
Corn Fritters in Asia
On the other side of the world, corn seeds from the Americas arrived in Southeast Asia in the late 1500s. They were brought by Spanish and Portuguese traders. The corn plant grew very well in the warm, wet climate of Indonesia. It soon became a main food plant in drier parts of Indonesia. This is because corn needs much less water than rice.
Coconut and palm oil have been important in Indonesian cuisine for hundreds of years. The idea of deep frying with palm oil probably came from Portuguese colonists. Indonesia now has its own type of corn fritter, called perkedel jagung or bakwan jagung.
What's in a Corn Fritter?
Southern United States Style
Traditional corn fritters in the American South use corn kernels, eggs, flour, milk, and melted butter. They can be deep fried, shallow fried, or baked.
People often serve them with jam, fruit, honey, or cream. Sometimes, they are made with creamed corn and served with maple syrup. Corn fritters can look a lot like johnnycake, so people sometimes mix them up!
Indonesian Style
Indonesian corn fritters, called gorengan, are not sweet. They are savory, meaning they taste salty or spicy. They have a more bumpy texture because the corn kernels are not ground up finely. You can still see the whole corn kernels!
These fritters are made from fresh corn kernels, wheat flour, rice flour, celery, scallion, eggs, shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper. They are deep fried in coconut oil. They are a popular snack and are often served as a starter before a meal.
Images for kids
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Corn fritters at an event in Sonoma, California
