Skillet Jalapeño Corn Cakes
Hush puppy batter reworked into pan-fried cakes, mixed from powder in one pot.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 116
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Yellow cornmeal | 1 1/4 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1/4 cup | |
| Buttermilk powder | 1/3 cup | stands in for the 3 cups of liquid buttermilk |
| Baking powder | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 3/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried green onion | 3 tbsp | freeze-dried chives work too |
| Dried jalapeño flakes | 1 to 2 tsp | or one minced fresh jalapeño on day one |
| Cooking oil | 3 tbsp | enough to slick the pan, not to deep fry |
| Water | 180 ml |
Method
- Put the dry mix in the pot and pour in about 150 ml of cold water. Stir to a thick batter that falls off the spoon in a lump. Add the rest a splash at a time only if it stays crumbly.
- Let it sit five minutes so the green onion and pepper flakes rehydrate.
- Heat the oil in a skillet or the pot lid over a moderate fire. Medium, not roaring, or the outside sets before the middle cooks.
- Spoon in tablespoon-sized rounds and flatten them slightly. Cook four or five at a time so the pan stays hot.
- Give each side about three minutes, until brown and firm at the edge. Flip once.
- Salt them while the oil is still on the surface and eat them hot.
The original is deep-fried in four quarts of oil, which nobody is carrying up a trail. Pan-frying in three tablespoons gets close: the cornmeal still browns and crisps at the edges, it just does it on one face at a time. Flatten the rounds or the centers stay raw.
Buttermilk powder replaces three cups of refrigerated buttermilk and does the same job, which is giving the baking powder something acidic to react against. The eggs are gone; there is enough starch and liquid to hold a cake this small together without them. Keep the batter stiff. A loose one spreads into pancakes and steams instead of frying.
Packing
Combine everything dry in one zip bag at home, including the buttermilk powder and dried onion. Oil goes in a leakproof bottle. In camp you add water and nothing else.
Variations
- Stir in a handful of freeze-dried corn for texture.
- A packet of hot sauce on the side does what the jalapeños do, with less carrying.
- Cook the whole batter as one thick cake and cut it in wedges if you are tired of flipping.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/jalapeno-hush-puppies