Fritter
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.
Definition
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 Africa
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.Another popular fritter made by Nigerians is 'puff-puff', typically made by deep-frying a dough containing flour, yeast, sugar, butter, salt, eggs and water.
Egypt
, or is an example of a fritter widely eaten in Egypt as well as other countries in North Africa. In Egypt, it is made from crushed fava beans which are mixed with various herbs and spices and then deep-fried.South Africa
Pumpkin fritters, usually served with cinnamon sugar and served at any time of day, are popular in South Africa. Variations often include banana instead of pumpkin.Kenya
Fritters are commonly referred to as bhajia or viazi karai, and are a popular street snack in Kenya.Asia
South Asia
Fritters are common roadside snacks all over South Asia and are commonly referred to as pakora ' or bhaji ' in local parlance. The onion bhaji is especially well-known.In India and Pakistan, a pakora is a fritter of assorted vegetables and spices.
In the South Indian state of Kerala, banana fritters are popular.
Piyaji is a Bengali dish of fritters with onions.
Southeast Asia
Brunei
In Brunei, fritters are known as cucur and they are eaten as snacks. Cucur is also part of local street food and usually sold in street market-style food booth. They are usually made with fillings which are commonly made with banana, shrimp, yam, sweet potatoes and vegetables. Some local fruits, when they are in season, are also made into cucur, most commonly durian, breadfruit, tibadak and tarap.Indonesia
In Indonesia, fritters come under the category of gorengan, 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, tempe mendoan, tahu goreng, oncom, sweet potato, cassava chunk, cassava tapai, cireng, bakwan, Tahu isi, 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.Malaysia
In Malaysia, it is common for a type of fritter called "cucur" to be fried by the roadside in a large wok and sold as snacks.Myanmar
In Burmese cuisine, fritters are called a-kyaw, while assorted fritters are called a-kyaw-sone. The most popular a-kyaw is the gourd fritter. 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.
Philippines
In the Philippines, egg fritters are called tokneneng or kwek-kwek, and squid fritters are called kalamares. These, along with shrimp fritters called okoy, and banana fritters called maruya are also sold in travelling carts or street side vendors.Thailand
East Asia
China
Throughout China, fritters are sold at roadsides. They may contain pork, but are commonly vegetarian.Japan
In Japanese cuisine, takoyaki is a type of ball-shaped fritter made with a wheat batter, minced octopus, ginger and tempura scraps. Tempura is vegetable or seafood dipped and fried in a light crispy batter and served as a common accompaniment to meals.Korea
In Korean cuisine, deep-fried foods are known as twigim. Twigim is often battered and breaded, but there are varieties without breading, as well as varieties without breading and batter. Popular twigim dishes include dak-twigim, gim-mari-twigim, goguma-twigim, gul-twigim, ojingeo-twigim, and saeu-twigim.Traditional vegetarian deep-fried foods associated with Korean temple cuisine include twigak and bugak. Twigak are made from vegetables such as dasima 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.
West Asia
Iran
The Iranian variety is called kuku, which comes in different versions like the ones with potatoes or the ones with herbs. This type of fritter resembles a crustless quiche.Oceania
New Zealand
s are popular in New Zealand.Europe
Netherlands
An oliebol, literally 'oil ball', is a simple dough ball fried in oil. Varieties contain currants or raisins, the so-called 'krentenbol'. They are traditionally prepared or bought ready-made specifically to be consumed on New Year's Eve.Portugal
is a traditional dish in Portuguese cuisine. The name of the dish is literally translated as "little fish from the vegetable garden", as it resembles small pieces of colorful fish. Its preparation involves coating green beans, bell peppers, squash, or other vegetables in a wheat flour batter and deep-frying them. It was introduced to Japan by Portuguese sailors in the sixteenth century, where it eventually developed into tempura.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.