This corn delicacy has an intricate history and rather simple preparation. There are several different stories about its possible origin, but they all have something in common: they all agree it's a food from the US South. One of the versions states that during the American Civil War, the Confederate soldiers were making those corn bites in the field when they heard the Union soldiers approaching, so they threw some of the corn bites to their dogs (that is to say "puppies") to hush them and hide their position. Another version claims that the slaves used this food to calm the barks of the dogs when trying to escape from their masters. Ok... Now you're probably thinking this is actually dog food... Luckily, you're wrong! The reason why hushpuppies got thrown to the dogs eventually, is that the ingredients were quite cheap and available even during war time, so people could afford "wasting" them. The basic recipe is nowadays upgraded and enriched, and worth trying indeed!
Though traditionally served as a side dish for seafood, this cute donuts-like bites can also be a main dish or a snack. Just mix some refreshing, cold dip and prepare for enjoying!
I believe there are many recipes for hushpuppies out there that differ from each other in some way, so now I will share with you the recipe I got by altering the one presented in a cooking TV show. I made them, they disappeared in the blink of an eye, so they just must be good, right? :)
Let's now see what are the ingredients you'll need!
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- In a bowl, combine flour, polenta, cornmeal and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg. Then add sour cream and milk and combine.
- Blend the two mixtures. You should get a thick, but pourable batter.
- Now it's time to add some extra flavors: stir in finely chopped onion, diced pepper(s) and corn. Season with some salt and pepper to taste, and add parsley. Combine.
This is how the batter looks like when it's ready.
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5. Pour some oil into a pan, enough to be approx. 3 cm deep. As stated in this donuts recipe, I would recommend that you use some smaller pot in order to save on oil.
Heat the oil over high fire. Make a test with putting a drop of batter into it: if it sizzles and starts frying immediately, the oil is ready.
6. Reduce the fire to medium. Scoop some batter with a tablespoon and put it carefully into the oil. Put as much pieces as possible, leaving some space between them. Once the hushpuppy gets a golden brown color, turn it on the other side and fry for couple more seconds. They are done really fast.
Put fried hushpuppies onto a paper towel to drain the excess fat. Repeat this procedure as many times as needed until you spend all of the batter. |
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You can also serve it as a main dish or snack, along with some cold dip. This time I chose a mix of sour cream and mayonnaise (1:1 ratio - I used 3 Tbsp of each for this amount of hushpuppies). Then I combined 1 tablespoon of the mixture with a few drops of beetroot juice and drizzled the top of each sauce bowl to decorate it, but this is totally optional.