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Green Corn Pancakes
I TABLESPOON MELTED BUTTER I CUP MILK 2 CUPS GRATED CORN 2 EGG YOLKS, BEATEN LIGHT 1/2 TEASPOON SALT PEPPER 1/2 CUP FLOUR 2 EGG WHITES, BEATEN STIFF Use only the tender young ears of corn and grate the pulp to creamy consistency. Canned corn simply will not do. Stir beaten egg yolks into corn, add salt, a few grains of pepper, butter and milk. Stir until well-mixed. Sift in the flour. More or less than 1/2 cup may be necessary, depending on the milky freshness of the corn. Add the stiff egg whites, and have your griddle very hot.
When these are made small and thick, they're spooned into shape on the griddle and become green corn oysters.
A thin, custardy batter held together by beaten egg white rather than leavening, so the corn itself has to carry the pancake. Everything hinges on the corn being fresh enough to give up milky pulp.
- "Green corn" means fresh sweet cornNot a variety and not a color -- green here means unripe, picked while the kernels are still soft and milky. Any tender sweet corn at the stage where a punctured kernel squirts will work.
- How to grate itScore down the center of each row with a knife tip, then scrape the cob with the back of the blade to press out pulp and milk, leaving the tough hulls behind. A box grater over a bowl does the same job faster but wastes more. Roughly 4 to 6 ears gives 2 cups.
- Why canned corn failsThe instruction is not snobbery. Canned kernels have been cooked firm and packed in water, so they contribute no starch-thick milk and the batter has nothing to bind it. Frozen kernels have the same problem.
- The flour is deliberately variableHalf a cup is a starting point. Judge by the batter: it should mound slightly on the spoon rather than run. Very milky young corn may want a few extra tablespoons; older corn may need less.
- Fold, do not stir, the whitesThe whites are the only lift in the recipe -- there is no baking powder. Cut them in with a spatula in three additions and cook the batter promptly, before it deflates.
- "Very hot" griddleThe recipe gives no number; in practice this means a cast-iron pan hot enough that a drop of water skitters, or a hot setting on an electric griddle. Grease lightly; the batter is wet and will stick on a dry surface.
- Corn oystersThe variation at the end also appears as a dish in its own right in period cookbooks: small, thick spoonfuls fried until the edges crisp. The name is usually explained by their shape and soft texture rather than any shellfish content, though that explanation is traditional rather than documented. Some versions shallow-fry them in fat rather than griddling.
- YieldAbout 12 to 16 pancakes of pancake size, or two dozen small corn oysters. Enough for four as a side dish.