Smokey sweetcorn and tofu fritters

By Yotam Otolenghy
These fritters are so positively free-from – no dairy, no gluten – that it would be churlish not to serve them with a fried egg to make up for it. Avocado, for those sticking with the vegan theme, is another winning combination. Serve these as close as you can to making them as they really benefit from being eaten nice and crisp, straight from the pan. If you can’t get fresh kaffir lime leaves then use 1 teaspoon of finely grated lime zest instead. If you can’t get the chipotle chilli flakes then either blitz up a whole dried chipotle or ancho chilli or else just increase the smoked paprika to ¾ teaspoon.

Serves four, 3 fritters each


Ingredients

350g silken tofu, broken up into 2cm pieces
200g frozen sweetcorn, de-frosted, or freshly shaved corn from the cob
½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
¼ tsp ground turmeric
About 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, woody stems discarded and then blitzed in a spice grinder to 1 tsp powder, or else just finely chopped

1 tsp maple syrup
4 tbsp rice flour; use a variety like ‘Doves’ rather than the glutinous type you’d use to make dumplings
10g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 green chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped (15g)
4 spring onions, finely sliced (30g)
70g French beans, trimmed and finely sliced into small rounds, about 2mm thick
60ml sunflower oil
4 lime wedges, to serve
Salt

Method

Place all the ingredients, except for the beans, oil and lime wedges, in a food processor with ¾ teaspoon salt. Blitz roughly so that most (but not all) of the sweetcorn is broken up. Stir in the sliced beans.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add 4 tablespoons of the mixture to make 4 fritters; do this carefully as the oil will spit. Flatten the mixture down so that each fritter is about 6 or 7 centimetres wide and 1½ centimetres thick and then fry for 1-2 minutes until golden-brown on the bottom (this is important: they need to crisp up completely on the bottom for them not to break when you turn them over; add a little extra rice flour if this still happens). Use a spatula to carefully turn the fritters over and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a kitchen paper-lined plate, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and keep somewhere warm whilst you continue with the remaining mix in the same way, topping up the oil with an extra tablespoon for each batch. Serve warm with and the lime wedges alongside.