These corn and crab fritters may not look like much, but one bite and I promise you’ll be hooked. With a golden brown shell made of caramelized cheese on the outside and crisp sweet corn and flavorful crab on the inside, it’ll take more than a little willpower to stop at just one of these light crisp fritters.

Because fritters can often be greasy and leaden, I opted to use as little batter as possible, allowing the cheese to hold things together once it melts. The mixture does tend to crumble as you’re adding it to the pan though, so it may take a few tries to make a fritter that holds together. The trick is in getting an even mixture of crab and corn in your tablespoon and then slightly compressing it together before adding it to the pan.

For your effort, you’ll be rewarded with light crisp fritters that that taste like they were made entirely out of corn, crab, basil and cheese.

Corn and Crab Fritters

Caramelized cheese creates a shell around these crab and corn fritters. (Recipe Courtesy: Marc Matsumoto of the Fresh Tastes Blog)

Ingredients

• 1 cob corn
• 3.7 ounces (105 grams) crab
• 0.9 ounces (25 grams) grated cheddar cheese (about 1/2 loose cup)
• 0.7 ounces (20 grams) basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil for frying
• finishing salt such as Maldon or Fleur de Sel

Directions

1. Use a sharp knife to cut the corn off the cob into a bowl. When you're done cutting the kernels, use the back side of the knife to scrape any remaining bits of corn and juice off the cob and into the bowl.
2. Add the crab, cheddar, basil, flour, cornmeal, egg and black pepper into a bowl and stir well to combine.
3. Prepare a paper towel lined wire rack.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat until shimmering.
5. Add the fritter mixture 1 heaping tablespoon at a time to the pan and fry until golden brown on one side.
6. Gently flip the fritter over with a spatula and give it a light press to flatten it out, and then fry until the other side becomes golden brown and crisp.
7. Drain the fritters on the paper towels, and then sprinkle with finishing salt before serving.

Yield: Makes about 14, 2-inch fritters

Marc Matsumoto is a culinary consultant and recipe repairman who shares his passion for good food through his website norecipes.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blog in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marc’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.