May 2011 be filled with health, wealth and happiness, and if all that does not add up to prosperity, I don't know what does.
I have been busy since Thanksgiving, trying to clean out my freezer.
By that I mean, eat all the dishes, I had stored there.
That resolution made HD and me happy throughout December. When we weren't eating with friends or family, we had 'instant meals' to heat and eat! He loved the minimal washing up, and I loved the time to turn my attention to all the holiday fun.
To date, I still haven't met my goal of freezer emptying, so I abandoned that temporarily, and started making a few new dishes.
I've often wondered if everything we bloggers try comes out great...in my case that isn't so.
I've also often wondered about those people on cooking shows who take a bite of what they've made and say, "Ummm...so good...so delicious etc...."
Do they always get it right?
Anyway, to get back to my experiences, this recipe for corn fritters intrigued me, but also left me feeling it needed something more. I got the main idea for this recipe from 3 Thai cooking sites and I'm dubbing it a 'work in progress'.
Who can resist a fried dish in this cold weather? I'm posting this recipe now, instead of trying to perfect it, hoping for two things: 1. everyone will enjoy it now
2. some cooking genius will come up with some advice to help me make a good dish, great.
Tofu Corn Fritters
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (fish sauce can be used instead)
8 ozs firm tofu cut into small cubes
1 cup frozen corn kernels (you can use fresh kernels off the cob if you want to).
1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
4 green onions sliced fine
Red chilli powder and crushed pepper to taste.
(HD would prefer plenty of sliced green chillies, which I will try next time.)
A pinch of turmeric.
1-2 kaffir lime leaves, available at Oriental grocery stores snipped into slivers...I omitted this as I couldn't find any. (wish I had added some lime juice or a tsp of vinegar instead).
Mix rice, baking powder and spices well.
Beat eggs with oyster and soy sauce.
Mix all ingredients together.
Deep fry by heating oil well, dropping mix by the teaspoonful into the oil.
Let the underside brown, turn over and remove when both sides are a deep golden brown.
Don't mess with it too soon or it will break up in the oil...it will also do this if the oil isn't hot enough.
I fried one alone first, for a taste test, and decided the needed just a pinch of salt.
Serve hot with sweet and sour chilli sauce.
Delicious, but I would have liked a little more crunch in it...maybe next time I'm going to add some chopped red onion.
Also, I'm going to mix the batter and fry straight away...I think letting the batter rest a while, softened the scallion and bell pepper, which otherwise might have given me the texture I'm looking for.
The tofu was an unexpected ingredient that tasted delicious.
lan, this one's for you.
