A hush puppy or cornbread ball is a savory, starch-based food made from cornmeal batter that is deep fried or baked in small ball or sphere shapes, or occasionally oblong or ring shapes.
The name "hush puppies" is often attributed to hunters, fishermen or other cooks who would fry some basic cornmeal mixture (possibly that they had been bread-coating or battering their own food with) and feed it to their dogs to "hush the puppies" during cook-outs or fish-fries.
Typical hush puppy ingredients include cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk or buttermilk, and water, and may include onion, garlic, whole kernel corn, and peppers. The batter is mixed well, adjusting ingredients until thick, and dropped a spoonful at a time into hot oil. The small breads are fried until crispy golden brown, and cooled. Hush puppies are traditionally served with seafood including fried shrimp and catfish or Southern barbecued foods.
Hush Puppies with Remoulade (recipe from Food & Wine Magazine)
Ingredients:
1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
Remoulade
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 medium shallot, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
Tabasco sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
- To prepare the hush puppies: In a large bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, oregano, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, scallions and the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the cornmeal mixture until just blended. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.
- To prepare the remoulade: In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard, ketchup, cider vinegar, shallot, and scallion. Season the remoulade with Tabasco, salt, and pepper.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil to 325 degrees. Set a large rack over a baking sheet. Drop 6 rounded tablespoons of batter at a time into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until the hush puppies are browned and crisp, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the hush puppies to the rack to drain. Serve the hush puppies hot with the remoulade.
Comments