Japanese Sweet Corn Kakiage Fritters with Shiso and Sea Salt

Toss the corn kernels, sliced onion and shiso ribbons in a bowl with the 2 tablespoons of dusting flour until everything is lightly coated. This thin coat is what lets the batter cling to slippery kernels.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh sweet corn, kernels cut off (about 3 cups)
• 1 small sweet onion, sliced very thin
• 8 shiso leaves, stacked and sliced into thin ribbons
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup ice-cold sparkling water
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 4 cups neutral oil, for frying
• Flaky sea salt, for finishing
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Toss the corn kernels, sliced onion and shiso ribbons in a bowl with the 2 tablespoons of dusting flour until everything is lightly coated. This thin coat is what lets the batter cling to slippery kernels.
2. Pour the frying oil into a heavy pot to a depth of about 2 inches and heat to 340°F. Keep a thermometer in the oil — kakiage is unforgiving of a cool pot.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg into the ice-cold sparkling water, then add the flour, cornstarch and fine salt all at once. Stir with chopsticks just 8 or 10 strokes, leaving visible lumps and streaks of dry flour. Overmixing develops gluten and gives you a heavy, bready crust instead of a lacy one.
4. Pour the batter over the dusted vegetables and fold two or three times only — the mixture should look barely bound, not like a thick pancake batter.
5. Scoop a heaping 1/4 cup of the mixture onto a wide slotted spoon or small ladle, then slide it gently into the oil, holding it together for a second or two until the crust sets.
6. Fry two or three fritters at a time for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold and audibly crisp. Do not crowd the pot; the temperature will crash and the fritters will absorb oil.
7. Lift them onto a wire rack — never paper towels, which trap steam and soften the bottoms — and let the oil come back to 340°F between batches.
8. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt while still glistening and serve immediately with lemon wedges, or with a small bowl of tentsuyu dipping sauce if you have it.
9. Kakiage is the improvisational corner of the tempura repertoire: where standard tempura coats a single pristine ingredient, kakiage binds a handful of odds and ends into one craggy fritter, and it has long been the way Japanese cooks use up whatever the market pushed on them. Sweet corn is a relative newcomer to the form but has become a summer favorite, especially in Hokkaido, where the corn is famously sugary. Shiso cuts through the richness with a note somewhere between mint and basil that nothing else quite replicates.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 285 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 15g
• Carbohydrates: 34g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 310mg