Description
Adapted from: The Wall Street Journal
Note: Yotam Ottolenghi, the creater of these corn cakes, serves them with a light salad of arugula and cilantro. Find the original recipe here.
Ingredients
- ½ cup quick-cooking polenta, or fine-ground cornmeal
- 1¼ cups corn kernels, cut from 1-2 ears of corn*
- 1 small shallot, diced fine (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1 small jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed, diced fine (about 2 tablespoons)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, roughly smashed (optional — I omitted)
- ¾ teaspoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
- ¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for frying
- 1 to 4 eggs (depending on whether you want to make a fritter or a pancake… see notes in post above and in recipe)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro (or more or less to taste)
- ¼ cup sour cream or crème fraîche
*I ended up using 3 ears of corn to make the batter the consistency I was looking for. See notes in recipe.
NOTE: Batter can be made ahead and chilled. (After I achieved the batter consistency I was looking for, which was in the middle of the day, I stopped making fritters and put the batter in the fridge. When it was time for dinner, I took out my bowl and started making fresh fritters. Yum yum yum.)
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix polenta with corn, shallots, jalapeño, cumin (if using), salt and pepper. Add yogurt, 1½ tablespoons olive oil, 1 egg and chopped cilantro. Mix well with fork.
- Here is where the “recipe” gets messy: If you like the texture of a pancake, separate the remaining 3 eggs. Place the whites in a bowl and beat to soft peaks; reserve the yolks for another purpose. Carefully fold whites into corn batter in two stages. Let rest 5 minutes. (Note: This is what I did initially. See photo directly above the recipe.) If you prefer the texture of a fritter (my preference), omit adding the whipped whites**.
- Set large nonstick frying pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Pour in 1 teaspoon olive oil (or enough to just coat the bottom of the pan). Once hot, spoon 2 tablespoons of batter per cake into pan. Spread with the back your spoon to even out the batter. Make 3 to 4 fritters at a time. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook cakes 2-3 minutes, or until golden. Flip and cook 1 minute, or until golden. Season second side of fritters with a pinch of salt. Transfer to paper-lined tray. At this point, it would be wise to taste one. If you like the texture and seasoning, repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter. If you think the batter could use more corn, add more corn. If the batter needs to be bound together better, add another egg. Once you’ve achieved the right consistency, repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter or chill batter until you’re ready to start cooking.
- Serve with sour cream or crème fraîche on the side.
Notes
** I should note that I have not made this recipe without omitting the egg whites altogether — I simply have minimized their effect by adding an additional ear of corn to the batter and stirring aggressively to deflate their whipped texture.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes