Hush puppies are a southern staple, an accompaniment for anything from fried catfish to good ole barbecue. With sweet corn just at the end of its season here in Virginia, I make it a point to make a batch of crispy, delicious hush puppies and I make certain that they are chock full of those yummy, sweet bites of fresh corn.
Basically, hush puppies are fried bits of cornmeal batter. It’s pretty much the same ingredients as in your typical cornbread: corn meal, all-purpose flour, eggs, salt, and milk. We’re talking about basic stuff here. The best hush puppies have bits of onion, corn, and maybe even some peppers.
So why are they called “hush puppies”? Well, in the South, dogs are everywhere! They hunt with us, lay on the porch with us, and definitely kiss our heels when we are in the kitchen. To keep those dogs at bay, hunters, fishermen, and cooks across the south would fry up little bits of that cornmeal batter so typical of our food and toss them to the pups to keep them quiet. My guess is that some of the kids wound up figuring out this game and got a piece here and there. Eventually, the adults would have had to catch on about how tasty this stuff is.
Mine are not so different from a lot of typical recipes out there. What makes them special is the addition of tons of fresh sweet corn. The little pops of sweet mixed with the onion all wrapped up in a moist batter with a crispy crust! It’s really hard to stop eating them!
Making these are super easy. Start by mixing all of the ingredients together.
It doesn’t look all that pretty now, but when you fry in hot oil…
…and serve, you will definitely not have anyone complaining about how the batter looked! For my part, I love serving them with a little honey butter. It keeps those hush puppies super moist and that honey really brings out the sweetness of the corn.
We’re frying up some tasty treats. What are your favorite fried foods? Leave a comment and share your story.
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornmeal
- ½ tsp kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup diced onion
- ½ cup fresh corn
- oil for frying
- Honey Butter:
- ½ stick softened butter
- 2-3 tbsp honey
- Prepare a fryer or fill a heavy bottomed pot to about 3" of oil. Heat to 375.
- Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add egg and milk, stirring until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Add onion and corn, stirring to combine.
- Drop tablespoons of batter into the oil, being careful not to crowd them. Fry about 3 minutes per side, turning as needed for even cooking.
- Drain on paper towels, season with additional salt, and serve with honey butter.
- For Honey Butter:
- Combine honey and butter in a small mixing bowl. Scrape into a serving dish and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Enjoy!
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