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By Thomas Pisha-Duffly
My family is obsessed with my grandmother's corn fritters. Oma, as we call her, is my mother's mother, and her mother is Macho. These recipes come from them.
My family on my mother's side is Chinese Indonesian, from Surabaya. The corn fritters my sisters and I make are the ones taught us by our mom, but digging through a bunch of my Oma's recipes, I found a couple of cards—tucked in among recipes for beef rendang, opor ayam and agar jello pudding—that I hadn't seen before.
They were corn fritters, though not the ones I knew, and while basically the same, the difference here is the appearance of shrimp and the lack of the customary fine dice of celery and white pepper.
I have taken the liberty of combining the best parts of both recipes to make this recipe for perkedel.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds frozen corn kernels
- ½ bunch of green onion, sliced
- 15 pieces of small shrimp
(about ⅓ pound), peeled and deveined - ¼ cup diced celery
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¾ cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 cubes chicken bouillon
1. Soften bouillon cubes. In a food processor, add bouillon and half the corn and process to a rough paste. Add second half of corn and shrimp and pulse until roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and add flour, eggs, celery, white pepper, turmeric, and baking powder. Mix well until incorporated.
2. In a high-sided pan or skillet, heat an inch of oil on medium high. Drop spoonfuls of the dough one at a time until the pan is full, leaving space between fritters to allow for spread. As they brown, turn occasionally to cook evenly and pull when the outside begins to caramelize. Lift out with a slotted spatula and set to drain on some newspaper. Repeat.
Serve with chicken satay or beef rendang and a side of sambal and sweet soy. Eat until you feel sick.
Related: The Co-Owners of Indonesian Fusion Hit Gado Gado Show Us What's In Their Fridge
Thomas Pisha-Duffly is co-owner of Gado Gado, 1801 NE César E. Chávez Blvd., 503-206-8778, gadogadopdx.com. A revamped takeout menu will be introduced this week.