Fritter It Just A Little Bit

Fried vegetables are still vegetables, right?

Fried foods are some of the best foods.  They are the crunchy, savoury, and delicious combination of carb and fat Maillard and caramelized goodness.  They aren’t good for us in quantity, but they sure are good.

Vegetables, on the other hand, can be a harder sell, especially when your customers are your kids or other (ahem) selective eaters. Vegetables, you see, frequently have hints of bitterness from all the healthy compounds they contain and are, in and of themselves, not a great source of the dense calories our primitive brains are wired to seek. It’s not quite enough reason consider them inedible but enough that a bit of skepticism is not unreasonable, at least from an evolutionary perspective.

Coat your vegetables in batter and fry them up and we have a rather different situation.

Fritters are a great way to use up bits and pieces of various vegetables, including those the selective eaters generally avoid. Fritters come together quickly and are not much more work than pancakes. They can be made sweet or savory and have endless flavour possibilities. They make a great snack, an interesting appetizer, or a very plausible lunch. A dip or sauce is highly recommended and even gilds the lily. And if your selective eaters insist on covering them in ketchup just grin and bear it - it’s fine.

There’s a very simple ratio at work here and it’s not unlike the ratio for muffins except instead of adding fat to the batter you’re using it as the cooking method. Flour, liquid, egg and baking powder, and sugar if you’re swinging sweet. Shallow fry (carefully!) and you’ve got fritters. Sprinkle with salt or dust with powdered sugar as best befits.

Watery vegetables benefit from grating and squeezing and cook more evenly if shredded, so if you’ve got potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, or the like you’ll want to get out the box grater instead of the knife. Squeezing eliminates some of the water and keeps your fritters from falling apart and/or spluttering hot oil everywhere. Hard stuff like carrots also benefit from a grating so they actually cook through. Other vegetables or fruit can be chopped into small-ish pieces or in the case of peas or corn or the like they can be left whole.

Let’s get frittering!

The Gear:

• Clean kitchen towels

• Spoon

• Spatula

• Whisk

• Measuring cups

• Measuring spoons

• Heavy frying pan (cast iron is perfect!)

• Plate with paper towels or a cooling rack

• Two metal spatulas

The Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetables or fruit, chopped or grated (I’m using grated zucchini, peas, and green onion)

• All-purpose flour

• Liquid of choice (I’m using milk)

• Large eggs

• Salt (or powdered sugar for fruit)

• Baking powder

• Fresh or dried herbs and spices (I’m using paprika, black pepper, and nutritional yeast)

• Neutral oil for frying

The ratio for fritters is 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg, plus baking powder and salt. Of course, the ratio is by weight, meaning that your measuring cups and spoons will not quite work using the ratio. But never fear, I will give you rough volume measurement that work just fine and is easy to remember.

For my recipe I’m using 133 grams/4 ounces (3/4 cup) of flour: 125 ml/4 ounces (1/2 cup) of milk: 1 large egg. A teaspoon of baking powder will leaven about 1 cup of flour, so we’ll use 1 teaspoon. I’m also adding a big pinch (1/4 teaspoon) kosher salt.

The technique:

• Prepare your vegetables. “Wet” vegetables like zucchini should be grated, tossed with a pinch of salt, and then squeezed through a clean towel to remove excess liquid. You should have two cups total.

  

• Combine your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder salt, and dry spices) in a bowl and whisk to sift out lumps.

• Whisk milk and egg in a separate bowl.

• Whisk dry and wet ingredients together until just combined. Over-mixing will give you tough fritters!

  

• Combine batter with vegetables. There should be enough batter to bind the vegetables but a lot of excess.

  

• Heat your oil in the heavy frying pan. You can use less oil (rather like making pancakes) if you prefer, but I like that serious golden crispiness from a shallow fry. To get the right temperature you can test fry a very small scoop of batter. You want the oil to be hot, but not so hot the the outside of your fritter will burn before the inside is cooked.

• Scoop large spoonfuls of batter into your pan, being careful to avoid splashing.

  

• Fry until golden brown on the bottom and then, using both metal spatulas, carefully flip the fritter in the direction AWAY FROM YOU. Synthetic kitchen tools can be used, but they may warp from the hot oil, so be warned.

  

• Once the fritters are golden on the other side, poke a small hole to test. If the batter is still wet inside give them another minute. As you can see my oil was probably a bit too hot because these are not quite done inside but getting a little dark on the outside. (Also, you can tell that my crappy stove element doesn’t heat the pan evenly.)

  

• When your fritters are done, transfer them to the paper towel-lined plate or cooling rack. Sprinkle with salt (or powdered sugar as the case may be) immediately. Serve right away or keep warm in a low oven. First one is for the cook, always.

There are a million ways you can customize your fritters. Swap the milk for water, stock or beer (!) if that suits you. Add some grated or crumbled cheese to the batter. Use up that wilting bundle of fresh herbs or add some fiery spice. Put a tablespoon of sugar into the batter for your fruit fritters. Smash up a some cooked chickpeas with a potato masher or swap the all purpose flour for something a little more interesting. Just remember to keep the moisture down so your fritters don’t crumble in the pan or start water-meets-hot oil explosions.

And make sure you’ve got a dip for your crunchy treats. Tzatziki, ranch, or an interesting mayonnaise are all good choices. And if your kids insist on covering them in ketchup? Remember, just grin and bear it. They are eating vegetables, aren’t they?