Mirliton Corn Fritters

By Lance Hill

The batter for the Hushpuppies recipe is modified from Paul Prudomme’s Louisiana Kitchen

1 cup cornmeal

½ cup all purpose flour

½ cup corn flour

¼ tsp. red pepper

¼ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. crushed dried thyme

1/8 tsp. crushed oregano

1 tablespoon baking powered

2 eggs beaten

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

6 ounces of whole milk (to start with)

Sour cream and cilantro for some kind of dip

3 mirlitons, boiled until tender, peeled, de-seeded, rough chopped into about ¼ inch chunks

Cooking oil in deep fat fryer, at least 4 cups of oil, three inches deep at 350 degrees

Preparation:

Mirlitons have such a high water content that they tend to make any wheat-flour-based recipe mushy. Cornmeal has the wonderful ability to absorb a great deal of water so that the mirlitons work well with it and the breading stays moist but not soggy. Also the sweetness of the corn is a perfect complement to the crystalline flavor of mirliton.

1

The ratio of mirliton to cornmeal is a matter of personal taste, so I encourage cooks to first divide the batter into one-cup batches to test the right consistency, mirliton-to-batter ratio, and spicing. It will take some experimentation to get what works for you. The same is true for how thin the batter should be. This is not a hush-puppie, so it takes a little experimenting to get a batter that “drops” off a table spoon.

Combine all dry ingredients and spices well. Stir in eggs, 2 tablespoons of oil, and add 6 ounces of milk. Stir well and refrigerate covered for one hour. This chills the batter and makes it easier to work with. Take one cup of batter and put it in a small bowl and added about ¾ of the pulp from one small mirliton. Here we need to start talking more precise like “3/4 cup pulp” or, even better, “6 ounces of pulp.”

Mix the pulp until the batter covered all of it. Then using a table spoon, fill the spoon high and using another spoon, gently push the batter off right into the oil—not dropping it from a distance. It takes a few batches to get the feel of the batter and how to make a more compact fritter.

The fritters pop up pretty fast and I set a 2 minute timer and flipped them once. The longer in the oil, the more oil they absorb, so you want to get in and out but make sure they cook through. I used a quick-read thermometer and got internal reading of over 160 for a fritter cooked all the way through. Then place on paper towels. Let these cool a bit because the mirliton will keep them hot and they taste best warm. I worked fast and got 5-6 at a time in the fryer without them welding together. I made a sour cream sauce which could be horseradish or cilantro but the clean cream flavor by itself complements the corn bread and mirliton, so I did not add hot sauce in the sour cream.

So what to adjust? First, how thick the batter needs to be. Runny batter makes a fritter that is too fluffy and a dryer batter may not coat as well. These are supposed to have the taste and texture of a light cornbread (and that’s not a bad idea: mirliton cornbread). They go into the oil looking like the mirliton is going to stick out the side of the fritter, but the batter usually engulfs them in bread quickly. How much pepper?—Paul wanted 3/4 – 1 ½ tsps. But ¾ tsp. was just too hot for me. I like this more like plain corn bread with just a little hint of spice that kicks in after the mirliton and corn taste hits.

Fresh herbs might work better than dried, but keeping it simple is a good idea (indeed, you might try the standard self-rising corn-flour which I think is a mix of corn meal, corn flour, and all the leavening). Finally the “drop” method takes some practice. I found that holding the spoon right at the surface and letting the batter roll off on top of itself created something closer to a ball.

2