Squash Fritters

In reviewing the IK’s vegetable posts, I realized: 1. there aren’t many, and 2. what few there are skew fritterwards.

We of the IK consume a varied vegetable diet. Yet here we are, about discuss squash fritters. Were that not enough, today’s variant recipe is….a red pepper fritter.

In all honesty, the cart came before the horse: I bought both the beautiful red peppers, above, and the adorably squat summer squash, below, without any ideas of how I’d prepare them.

Once home with these beauties, Eileen Yin Fei-lo’s squash pancake recipe, from Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, presented itself to me.

Squash fritter recipes abound, both online and IRL–in real life. In Heart of the Artichoke, David Tanis offers a recipe for zucchini pancakes, calling for parmesan, scallion, and just enough flour to bind all. Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer, or Nigella Fresh-depending on your edition–gives a very similar recipe. Her zucchini fritters mix feta cheese, parsley, mint, and lots of fresh lime. Both recipes are great for big summer parties, as they’re easy to prep in advance, have enormous yields, and hold well. Most importantly, the resulting fritters are always a huge hit at large gatherings. There are never leftovers.

At this juncture–at some juncture or other, anyway–we should discuss nomenclature. Zucchini or summer squash? Pancakes or fritters? For no reason at all, we’re calling them squash fritters today. Know I mean summer squash, of the green variety, not winter’s gourds.

Juncture concluded.

Returning to our recipe, or rather,  Yin-Fei Lo’s. Hers is a quieter affair than Tanis’s or Lawson’s–fewer steps, fewer ingredients, smaller yield. No food processor, no grater attachment, no cleaning of grater attachment afterward. Or of all those wayward veggie shreds that seem to migrate into the far corners of the kitchen.

The more observant amongst you have noticed the above is not squash. It is red pepper. It is also a better visual example of what the food should look like  going into the batter: diced smallish.

My squash pictures did not clearly indicate this.

More about that low yield– this recipe produces just six or seven fritters, perfect for two or three people. Should you be feeding more, the recipe doubles effortlessly.

It must be said these taste better than they photograph.

Despite the Asian flavor profile–soy sauce, scallion, garlic–the flavors are subtle, meaning these little fritters pair well with a wide variety of dishes. We’ve eaten them alongside plain steak, chicken, and pork stir-fry.  We even ate these as meal in themselves, with green salad, and they were lovely.

When you forgot to take the “empty plate” picture.