The other day, we made Duck Giblet Po’ Boys, and we needed a side funky enough to hold its own, but mainstream enough that the whole meal wouldn’t seem too outlandish. While perusing the produce section of the grocery store, Okra caught our eye, and it became the immediate winner. Given the New Orleans roots of our entree, the fact that these little green pods also star in another classic Cajun dish (specifically, Gumbo, which we have yet to make and post) made them feel like a great choice as a complement.
We knew we’d be frying our protein after coating it, so we opted to give the okra the same treatment. We found that the all corn meal coating adhered pretty well, but we made some recipe alterations (inclusion of flour to add some gluten and better dredging power) that we think would make these even better! Try serving these with a Remoulade or some BBQ Sauce to dip in.
Time: 25 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Okra
- 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Corn Meal
- 1/3 Cup Water
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Method:
- Combine your flour, corn meal, water, and baking powder in a large bowl, and stir to combine it into a thinnish paste.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a large bottomed (cast iron dutch oven is best) pan so that it’s hot by the time you are ready to fry. We only put enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, but you can put more in if you prefer the true deep frying experience.
- Slice the tops of your okra off, and discard the stems.
- If you prefer smaller morsels, slice your okra into 1/2-3/4″ pieces. Otherwise, you can leave the pods whole.
- Drop your okra into your coating, and mix around by hand to cover your delightful green pods.
- Carefully, place your coated okra into your oil, and fry until golden brown on the bottom (2-3 minutes). Flip, and continue to cook until all sides are golden brown and crispy.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
