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No summer is complete without a few batches of homemade fried okra, dredged in flour and fried until golden. These fried nuggets with hints of green peeping through are so delicious, there’s no need to add anything to them except a light dusting of salt.
I love okra in every shape and form whether its grilled, roasted, in gumbo, or smothered with tomatoes. I recently discovered a new okra dish, Okra Parmigiana, and it has quickly become a favorite.
But nothing beats straight up fried okra. It is simple and delicious and you can’t stop popping one piece after another into your mouth, hence its nickname “southern popcorn”. The fact that I hate to fry and do it only a few times a year makes fried okra feel extra special.
Light Crispy Coating
Typically southerners fry their okra in cornmeal or a mixture of cornmeal and flour, but I like just a light coating of flour. Sometimes the flavor of the okra gets hidden beneath a heavy cornmeal coating.
Cast Iron Skillet
I use a large cast iron skillet for frying, but any type of skillet will work, or even a Dutch oven.
How To Tell If The Oil Is Hot Enough
A thermometer is handy for making sure the oil stays in the right temperature range. It should be around 370 to 375 degrees F when you first start frying. The temperature will drop some when you add the okra, but you want to keep it from dropping below 350 to 360.
If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a small pinch of flour in the oil. If it sizzles right away, the oil is hot enough to begin frying.
How To Select Okra
When selecting okra, always choose smaller pods that are uniformly green. They develop black specks when they are not fresh. Larger okra pods (more than about 3 to 4 inches in length), get a little fibrous and tough.
Using a paper bag makes the process of coating the okra quick and easy.
Make It Spicy
If you want your okra to have some kick, add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the flour mixture.
Okra can go from lightly browned to black and burnt very quickly, especially if you are using a cast iron skillet which really conducts heat well. You’ll have to flip them over as fast as you can. Not an easy task to do without splashing hot oil on your hands. Just keep telling yourself it’s worth it. Be sure you don’t get distracted while frying okra and have a paper towel-lined plate ready.
Don’t overcrowd the pan. You don’t want the oil temperature to drop too much. Fry in batches.
In a pie plate or paper lunch bag, mix together flour, salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk.
Working in several batches, place okra in egg mixture and coat well.
Transfer to pie plate or paper bag and coat with flour.
Pour about 1 inch Vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Heat oil until about 375 degrees.
Place a single layer of okra in the oil. Cook until golden brown on bottom and use a spoon to flip over. Try to flip over a few at a time or it will take a long time to work your way through all of them and a few pieces may burn by the time you get to them.
Once golden brown on both sides, use a slotted spoon to remove okra to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle okra with some salt as soon as you remove it from the oil.
Add more oil to the pan and fry remaining okra. Serve warm.
The trick is to use plain milk — not buttermilk — and let the chopped okra soak in a combination of milk and egg for 15 minutes or so prior to frying. The moistened okra adheres to the breading during frying. Breading does not stick to dry okra.
Acidic ingredients like citrus juice, vinegar and even tomato are known to help too. Okra is often used in gumbo recipes, where they are cooked for a long time – this breaks down the parts of the okra that may become slimy, and makes the okra very tender, juicy and full of the flavour of the stew.
The first step to breading chicken is crucial: Make sure the chicken is completely dry before starting the dredging process. Using a paper towel, pat the meat dry on all sides. Excess moisture will cause the flour to get soggy, meaning it will not adhere properly to the chicken.
Lemon juice, chopped tomatoes, vinegar, or a splash of wine will not only add depth to your recipe, but it will also lower your slime quotient. A vinegar bath also does wonders to reduce the slimy consistency. Before cooking, soak the pods in vinegar for 30 minutes to help break up and dissolve the slime.
Whether picking it yourself or shopping for it at the store or farmer's market, you want the tender, young okra. Bigger is not better. The larger okra pods have tough husks and are too chewy.
Nearly half of the fiber in okra is soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart disease. Insoluble fiber, also found in okra, helps keep the intestinal tract healthy, can help relieve constipation and may decrease the risk of colon cancer.
In fact, the sticky mucilage in okra is made up of polysaccharides such as collagen and mucopolysaccharides that improve the feeding of beneficial microorganisms in the gut. The main effect is laxative, supporting digestive disorders.
When you are ready to cook the okra, rinse it well under cool running water, then pat it dry with a towel or paper towel before cutting into it. To trim okra, slice off the top stem end where the okra was snipped off the plant. Make sure not to cut into the body of the seed pod and release the mucilage yet.
While it hails from faraway places, okra crossed the ocean centuries ago via the Atlantic slave trade and set its roots firmly in our food culture. It continues to hold a place of honor on supper plates across the state, where it is typically served up coated in cornmeal and fried to a crunchy, golden brown.
Okra is low in calories but packed full of nutrients. The vitamin C in okra helps support healthy immune function. Okra is also rich in vitamin K, which helps your body clot blood. Antioxidants are natural compounds that help your body fight off molecules called free radicals that can damage cells.
Unlike cutting it into coins, which leaves some squishy stuff in the middle, cutting okra into spears exposes the entire interior of the pod, creating more surface area for the crunchy cornmeal to stick to, and allowing the oil to fry the okra totally crispy, inside and out.
If the meat is wet, it will make the flour soggy. In that case, breading will not stick properly and may fall off when deep frying. Therefore, you must take some paper towels and pat dry the meat on all sides.
The first step to breading chicken is crucial; make sure the chicken is completely dry before starting the dredging process. Using a paper towel, pat the meat dry on all sides. Excess moisture will cause the flour to get soggy and thus will not adhere properly to the chicken.
It is possible to bread and freeze your own fresh okra but breading the already frozen unbreaded okra really doesn't make a good product. Once frozen, bag your breaded okra in zip-top bags for later use.
While we encourage you to preserve as many nutrients as you can, you can skip the blanching and freeze the okra without it. It may lose some of its vibrant green color but, in my experience, the texture and flavor of frozen okra that has been blanched isn't much different from okra that hasn't.
Introduction: My name is Geoffrey Lueilwitz, I am a zealous, encouraging, sparkling, enchanting, graceful, faithful, nice person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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