By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(76)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This buttermilk batter fries up to a fluffy/crispy coating. When I was deciding what vegetables I wanted to coat and fry with this batter I knew that I would use scallions and green beans. (I used green beans with almost all of my recipe tests this week) Then I found a half-pound of brussels sprouts that had seen better days in my crisper. I trimmed off the yellowing outer leaves, quartered them, gave them a dunk in the batter and eased them into the hot oil. Now I will never throw out old brussels sprouts again. Okra would also be a good choice for this recipe. You can serve these plain or with any number of dips, either spicy (think Sriracha or chipotle aioli) or Japanese.
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves 8
- ½cup cornstarch
- 2tablespoons fine polenta or cornmeal
- ½teaspoon salt, plus additional for sprinkling
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- 1cup less 2 tablespoons buttermilk or yogurt thinned with milk
- 3tablespoons cold sparkling water
- ½pound green beans
- ½pound brussels sprouts
- 2bunches scallions
- Canola or grapeseed oil for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
208 calories; 16 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 186 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine cornstarch, polenta or cornmeal, salt and baking powder in a bowl and whisk together. Add buttermilk and sparkling water and whisk together until mixture is blended and has the consistency of thick cream.
Step
2
Top and tail beans. Trim brussels sprouts and quarter. Trim root end off the scallions and cut away dark green ends.
Step
3
Pour oil into a wok or wide saucepan to a depth of 3 inches and heat over medium-high heat to 360 to 375 degrees. Set up a sheet pan with a rack on it next to the pan. Cover rack with a few layers of paper towels. Have a spider or deep fry skimmer handy for removing vegetables from the oil.
Step
4
Using tongs, dip vegetables into batter a few at a time, making sure to coat thoroughly. Transfer to hot oil and fry until golden brown, which should not take more than a couple of minutes. Flip over halfway through with the spider to make sure the coating is evenly fried. It is important not to crowd pan and to let oil come back up to temperature between batches.
Using the spider, remove vegetables from oil, allowing excess oil to drip back into pan, and drain on towel-covered rack. Sprinkle with salt right away if desired. Allow to cool slightly and serve.
Tip
- Serve soon after deep-frying, while still nice and crispy.
Ratings
4
out of 5
76
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
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Rami
I tried some brussels fried with batter as written and then rolled some battered ones in cornmeal as another commenter suggested, we preferred those rolled in the extra cornmeal despite the extra mess. the batter alone barely adhered to the brussels. fried to deep golden brown. was crispy and delicious with wasabi/horseradish sauce.
Anna
Didn't need any sparkling water to reach the right consistency. Veggies were great sprinkled with salt and lemon juice.
Danaye
Added more cornstarch in hopes that the batter would thicken—unsuccessful. To remedy, dip veggies in batter, coat in cornmeal, and then fry. An electric fryer worked fine, and I cooked outdoors to avoid the lingering smell.
anna
Only add liquid til consistency is right.
Thom
Not sure what went wrong but the batter would not come to a heavy cream consistency. It came out watery and did not coat the veggies very well. I used all fresh ingredients and followed the recipe in every detail. It tasted ok, because anything fried tastes good. But kind of a waste of time and quality food stuffs, like the buttermilk. Oh well... Might try again and take steps to make sure the batter sticks better.
Gili
Amazing. everyone loved!
Annick
I did something similar with leeks cut so they look like linguine. DE-LI-CIOUS. Of all the vegetables I used, these were the absolute best.
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