A fish fry would not be complete without hushpuppies, yet another dish Southerners prepare with corn. Meme always added grated onion to the meal leftover from frying the fish, and then added an egg and enough buttermilk until the consistency looked about right. My late father-in-law used to host fish fries, cooking up what they’d caught over the weekend at Lake Lanier. Now, I never actually had one of his hushpuppies, but I’ve spent fifteen years trying to replicate one, based on what his family describes. He used beer instead of buttermilk and, it seems, lots of onion. It doesn’t matter how much onion I add, there’s never enough onion. I have a sneaking suspicion that a special food memory created on a sunny summer afternoon has bypassed reality and it’s actually not about the onion. No worries, I’ll keep trying. There are impossible quests that produce far worse results.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 15
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a large cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil over high heat until it reaches 375°F on a deep-fat thermometer.
Step 2
To make the batter, in a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. In a second bowl or large liquid measuring cup, combine the beer, eggs, and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, using as few strokes as possible. (The mixture should resemble wet sand; add more beer, if needed.)
Step 3
Line a plate with paper towels and set by the cooktop. To fry the hushpuppies, scoop up batter using a medium ice cream scoop and drop it into the hot oil without crowding. Fry, stirring occasionally with a slotted spoon, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to the prepared plate. Adjust the heat to maintain the proper temperature and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve immediately.
peanut oil
Step 4
The key to light and crispy fried food, not heavy and greasy fried food, is choosing the right oil. Peanut oil is a great oil for frying, because it has a mild, pleasant flavor; does not take on the tastes of foods as readily as other oils do; and has a smoke point of about 450°F, meaning it burns at a very high temperature. (Be warned, however, that Asian peanut oil is completely different. It has the fragrance of freshly roasted peanuts and is not good for frying.) Once the oil is used, strain it through a mesh sieve to remove the larger bits. Then, strain it again, this time through cheesecloth, to remove the finest particles. Store at room temperature for up to 3 months.
