Fritters

A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been battered or breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-fried. Fritters are prepared in both sweet and savory varieties.

Etymology

The 1854 edition of ''An American Dictionary of the English Language'' by Noah Webster defines fritter as a transitive verb meaning "to cut meat into small pieces to be fried". Another definition from 1861 is given as "a pancake cont. chopped fruit, poultry, fish; also a small piece of meat fried".

Varieties

Africa

West African countries have many variations similar to fritters. The most common process includes the blending of peeled black-eyed peas with peppers and spices to leave a thick texture. A Yoruba version, akara, is a popular street snack and side dish in Nigerian culture.

South Africa

Pumpkin fritters, served with cinnamon sugar at any time of day, are popular in South Africa.

Asia

South Asia

Fritters are extremely popular roadside snacks all over South Asia and are commonly referred to as ''pakora'' ''(pakoda)'' or ''bhajji'' ''(bhajia)'' in local parlance—the onion bhaji also enjoys a high popularity abroad and at home.

= India

=
In India, a ''pakora'' is a fritter of assorted vegetables and spices.

In the South Indian state of Kerala, banana fritters are extremely popular.

''Peyaji'' is a Bengali dish of fritters with onions.

File: Chilli_Bites_(Bhaji).jpg, Chilli ''pakoras''
File:Onion Fritters Peyaji.jpg, Onion fritters (''peyaji'') is a Bengali dish made with onions
File:The Bajji maker.jpg, A woman making ''bajjis'' in Mylapore
File:Uggani_bajji.jpg, ''Uggani bajji'', rice and fritters, a typical breakfast in Rayalaseema

Southeast Asia

= Brunei

=
In Brunei, fritters are known as and they are eaten as snacks. is also part of local street food and usually sold in street market-style food booth (locally known as ). They are usually made with fillings which are commonly made with banana, shrimp, yam, sweet potatoes and vegetables (usually sliced cabbages or carrots). Some local fruits, when they are in season, are also made into , most commonly durian, breadfruit (), (''Artocarpus integer'') and (''Artocarpus odoratissimus'').

= Indonesia

=
In Indonesia fritters come under the category of ''gorengan'' ( id, fritters, from ''goreng'' "to fry"), and many varieties are sold on travelling carts or by street vendors throughout Indonesia. Various kinds of ingredients are battered and deep-fried, such as bananas (''pisang goreng''), tempe ''mendoan'', ''tahu goreng'' (fried tofu), oncom, sweet potato, cassava chunk, cassava tapai, ''cireng'' (tapioca fritters), bakwan (flour with chopped vegetables), Tahu isi (filled tofu), and breadfruit. These are often eaten accompanied by fresh bird's eye chili. The variety known as bakwan commonly contains flour with chopped vegetables such as carrot and cabbage, whereas the fried patties called perkedel typically consist of mashed potatoes or ground corn ('' perkedel jagung'' or '' bakwan jagung'').

File:Penjual Gorengan.jpg, ''Gorengan'', Indonesian street vendor of assorted fritters
File:Tempe and tahu goreng.JPG, Indonesian ''tempeh mendoan'' and tofu fritters
File:Perkedel Jagung Jakarta.jpg, '' Bakwan jagung'', Indonesian corn fritter
File:Pisang goreng in a basket.jpg, Fritter peddler offering ''pisang goreng'', Indonesian banana fritter

= Malaysia

=
In Malaysia, it is common for a type of fritter called "cucur" (such as yam, sweet potato and banana) to be fried by the roadside in a large wok and sold as snacks.

File:Malaysian roadside fritters.jpg, Malaysian roadside yam and sweet potato fritters

= Myanmar

=

In Burmese cuisine, fritters are called ''a-kyaw'' ( my, အကြော်), while assorted fritters are called ''a-kyaw-sone'' ( my, အကြော်စုံ). The most popular ''a-kyaw'' is the gourd fritter (ဘူးသီးကြော်). Diced onions, chickpea, potatoes, a variety of leafy vegetables, brown bean paste, Burmese tofu, chayote, banana and crackling are other popular fritter ingredients. Black beans are made into a paste with curry leaves to make bayagyaw—small fritters similar to falafel. Unlike pisang goreng, Burmese banana fritters are made only with overripe bananas with no sugar or honey added.

The savory fritters are eaten mainly at breakfast or as a snack at tea. Gourd, chickpea and onion fritters are cut into small parts and eaten with Mohinga, Myanmar's national dish. These fritters are also eaten with Kao hnyin baung rice and with Burmese green sauce—called chin-saw-kar or a-chin-yay. Depending on the fritter hawker, the sauce is made from chili sauce diluted with vinegar, water, cilantro, finely diced tomatoes, garlic and onions.

File:Myanmar Fried Snack.jpg, Fried snacks of Myanmar

= Philippines

=
In the Philippines, egg fritters are called ''tokneneng'' (duck) or ''kwek-kwek'' (quail), and squid fritters are called ''kalamares''. These, along with shrimp fritters called ''okoy'', and banana fritters called ''maruya'' are also sold in travelling cart or street side vendors.

File:Kumbo.jpg, Maruya or kumbo, banana fritters
File:Ukoy (shrimp fritters) from Vigan, Philippines.jpg, Okoy, shrimp and glutinous rice flour fritters
File:Kwek kwek cropped.jpg, Kwek-kwek, quail egg fritters
File:Cagayan Pampanguena - Pinakufu.jpg, Pinakufu, glutinous rice flour fritters coated in sugar and coconut

= Thailand

=

File:Nam_phrik_kapi_02.jpg, ''Nam phrik kapi'' served with vegetable fritters; a common dish in Thai cuisine

East Asia

= China

=
Throughout China, fritters are sold at roadsides. They may contain pork, but are commonly vegetarian.

File:Fritters in Hainan - 03.ogv, A couple making fritters in Hainan, China. Each contains some fermented beans, chopped spring onion, and a small cube of pork meat. These sell for 5 mao (jiao), equivalent to around 8 US cents.

= Japan

=
In Japanese cuisine, tempura is vegetable or seafood dipped and fried in a light crispy batter and served as a common accompaniment to meals.

File:Tempurainjapan-ikebukuro-dec312007.jpg, ''Tempura''

= Korea

=

In Korean cuisine, deep-fries are known as ''twigim'' (). ''Twigim'' are often battered and breaded, but there are varieties without breading, as well as varieties without breading and batter. Popular ''twigim'' dishes include '' dak-twigim'' (fried chicken), '' gim-mari-twigim'' (fried seaweed roll), '' goguma-twigim'' (fried sweet potato), ''gul-twigim'' (fried oyster), ''ojingeo-twigim'' (fried squid), and ''saeu-twigim'' (fried shrimp).

Traditional vegetarian deep-fries associated with Korean temple cuisine include '' twigak'' and '' bugak''. ''Twigak'' are made from vegetables such as '' dasima'' (kelp) and bamboo shoot, without breading or batter. ''Bugak'' are made from vegetables such as ''dasima'', perilla leaves, and chili peppers, which are coated with glutinous rice paste and dried thoroughly.

File:Ojingeo-twigim and gochu-twigim.jpg, Korean '' Ojingeo-twigim'' (squid fritters) and '' gochu-twigim'' (chilli fritters)
File:Dasima-bugak.jpg, '' Dasima- bugak'' (coated kelp fries)
File:Miyeok-twigak.jpg, ''Miyeok- twigak'' (seaweed fries)

Iran

The Iranian variety is called Kuku which come in different versions like the ones with potatoes or the ones with herbs. This type of fritter resembles a crustless quiche.

File:Kookoo-sabzi-3.JPG, '' Kuku-sabzi''

Canada

A Canadian apple fritter is a yeast-leavened deep-fried pastry. Dough that was left to rise is then rolled with apple filling and cinnamon. It is then broken up into pieces and reformed into a single unit mass. From there it is cut into portions, left to rise, or, fried immediately. It is topped or dipped in glaze icing and served hot or cold.

File:Maple Syrup Drenched Apple Fritters (13656611574).jpg, Canadian maple-glazed apple fritters

New Zealand

Whitebait fritters are popular in New Zealand.

File:Whitebait Fritter.JPG, New Zealand whitebait fritters

United Kingdom

In British fish and chip shops, the fish and chips can be accompanied by "fritters", which means a food item, such as a slice of potato, a pineapple ring, an apple ring or chunks, or mushy peas fried in batter. Hence: "potato fritter", "pineapple fritter", "apple fritter", "pea fritter", etc. At home and at school, fritters are also sometimes made with meat, especially Spam and corned beef.
A fritter roll or roll and fritter is a potato fritter inside a bread roll, served with salt and vinegar.

File:PhotoBananaFritter.jpg, Banana fritters

United States

In the United States, fritters are a primary ingredient that is mixed with an egg and milk batter and either pan-fried or deep-fried; wheat flour, cornmeal, or a mix of the two may be used to bind the batter. Corn fritters are often made with whole canned corn and are generally deep-fried. Apple fritters are well known, although the contemporary American apple fritter is unlike the British one. Older versions of the apple fritter in the United States were prepared in the style of British ones, by slicing apples, dipping them in batter and frying them.

See also

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* List of doughnut varieties
* List of bread dishes
* List of deep fried foods
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References

External links

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{{Doughnuts

Articles containing video clips
Fritters
Street food