Sweet Corn Tempura Might Be The Best Summer Recipe You Haven't Tried

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The summer season calls for light bites to beat the heat, particularly those filled with delightful taste and texture. Japanese tempura has been around since the mid 1500s thanks to Portuguese explorers who brought with them a battered and fried green bean recipe called peixinhos da horta to Japan. Among the many innovations in tempura since, a sweet corn version known as corn kakiage is the best summer recipe for your next seasonal feast.

If you've never thought of enjoying the satisfying flavors of sweet corn in a crispy, crunchy, and all-around crave-worthy fried format, it's time to give this recipe a try. Sweet corn tempura fritters are simple to make and even more enjoyable to eat. All you need is an ear of corn, about ½ cup of tempura flour, and two to three tablespoons of cold water.

Start by cutting your corn kernels off the cob. One foolproof method to cut corn off the cob involves placing a flat-bottomed ramekin upside down in a larger bowl and resting your corn cob on top before carefully slicing it with a knife on all sides. Next, mix up your tempura batter and water, folding in the sweet corn kernels and rolling the mixture into small fritters. Exercise caution when frying these pieces slowly in oil at approximately 320 degrees Fahrenheit heat — you don't want hot oil splattering over your hands. From here, you can serve these corn fritters with your choice of dipping sauces and other accoutrements for the best summer snack.

In addition to exercising caution using when frying your fritters, also remember that the best oil to use for delicious tempura is one that is both fresh and neutral. Vegetable oil, canola oil, or rice bran oil are ideal. For your tempura batter, you can also use plain, all purpose flour or a mixture of all purpose flour, tapioca starch, and either corn starch or potato starch to get the ideal lightness and crispy finish when frying. Some recipes also call for sparkling water or seltzer for a lighter batter that results in optimal texture.

This easy sweet corn snack is akin to a corn fritters recipe, but even more convenient. It also opens up the possibilities for additional complementary ingredients. For example, make this the best summer party offering with a fusion-style twist that pairs the flavors of elote with corn kakiage. Simply prepare a dipping sauce using mayonnaise, sour cream, minced garlic, cilantro, chili power, lime juice and zest, and cotija cheese.

Leaning into the Japanese flavors, you can also use this Kewpie mayonnaise as your dipping sauce. Alternatively, consider mixing up a batch of tentsuyu or tempura dipping sauce made from dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and grated daikon radish. If you haven't tried it yet, these sweet corn tempura fritters will be a new crowdpleasing appetizer for your summertime soirees