← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 300 g sweetcorn kernels (about 3 cobs)
• 60 g plain flour
• 40 g Rice flour
• 1 Eggs
• 60 ml ice-cold water
• 3 Shallot, finely sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Spring onion, sliced
• 2 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, very finely shredded (optional)
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp White pepper
• 500 ml oil, for frying
• 8 green bird's eye chillies (cabe rawit), to serve (optional)

Method

1. Roughly crush about half the corn in a mortar or pulse it briefly in a food processor; this releases starch that binds the fritters.
2. Mix all the corn with the flours, egg, water, shallots, garlic, spring onion, lime leaf (if using), salt and pepper. It should be a thick, chunky batter that only just holds together.
3. Heat about 2 cm of oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat to 175°C (345°F).
4. Drop in heaped tablespoons of batter and flatten them slightly. Fry in batches for 2–3 min per side until deep golden and crisp at the edges.
5. Drain on a rack and serve hot, with fresh green chillies to bite between mouthfuls or with sambal or sweet chilli sauce.

Tips

• Tinned or frozen sweetcorn works; drain and pat it very dry first, or the fritters will spit and go soggy.
• Add a handful of small peeled prawns to the batter for bakwan udang (no longer vegetarian).

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Nomadette Daily Cooking Quest