Cuban recipe
Fresh Corn Fritters with Cheese and Ají Cachucha
Savory fresh corn fritters with cheese and ají cachucha: small, golden and crisp, with a tender interior and bits of corn.
- Preparation20 min
- Cooking20 min
- Total time50 min
- Servings5 servings (about 20 small fritters)
- DifficultyEasy
A savory variation on corn fritters, made for nibbling or serving as an appetizer. There is no sugar here: the sweetness comes from the fresh corn itself and the aroma from the ají cachucha.
Part of the whole kernels is kept so that every bite has texture, and small, slightly flattened portions are fried so they turn out crisp outside and tender inside.
Ingredients
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Method
- Cut the kernels off the cob until you have 400 g. Set aside 100 g of whole kernels. Wash and dry the peppers, remove the stems and seeds, and finely chop the 40 g indicated.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba - Blend the remaining 300 g of corn with the egg and garlic until you have a thick paste that keeps some texture. Do not add water or milk.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba - Transfer the paste to a bowl and stir in the reserved kernels, the grated cheese and the ají cachucha.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba - In a separate bowl, mix 60 g of flour, the baking powder, the salt and the pepper. Fold it into the batter and let it rest for 10 minutes. It should be thick and hold some shape when dropped from a spoon. If the corn released a lot of liquid, add flour in 10 g increments, up to a maximum of 20 g more.
AI-generated image.CiberCuba - Heat about 3 cm of oil to 170-175 °C. Drop in a first portion of 30-35 g and gently flatten it to about 1 cm thick.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes in total, turning halfway, until golden and cooked through. Break open that first fritter to check that no raw batter remains, taste it, and adjust the salt for the rest if needed.
- Fry the rest in batches of about 5, spaced apart and of similar thickness, letting the oil return to temperature between batches. Lower the heat slightly if they brown before cooking through inside.
- Drain on a rack or paper towels and serve hot. They should have crisp, irregular edges, a tender interior, and visible bits of corn and pepper.
