Conch Fritters with dipping sauce
Conch Fritters made it onto our bucket list during a long-ago visit to Key West. They were on the menus everywhere, and we couldn’t afford them. So when we recently found (probably frozen and defrosted) conch (pronounced “konk”) meat at our local Asian market, we had to try making conch fritters at home. Do take the extra trouble to prepare the tangy dipping sauce, which comes from this site. Makes 2 entrée or 4 appetizer portions.
Ingredients:
Peanut or other oil for deep-frying
1 c conch meat (about half a pound), chopped into ½ cubes*
¾ c all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
½ t baking powder
¼ t ground cayenne pepper
¾ t Kosher salt
¼ ground black pepper
½ c onion, chopped
¾ c mixed green and red bell pepper (or all of one or the other), diced
½ c celery (about 1 big stalk), diced
2 or more garlic cloves, chopped fine
For the dipping sauce:
2 T ketchup
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T mayonnaise
1 t Tabasco sauce
Kosher salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
The “necks” of conch meat tend to be a bit chewy, so be sure to chop in small cubes.
Method: Heat oil to 375 degrees. Combine milk and egg then add baking powder, cayenne, black pepper and salt. Mix thoroughly then add flour and stir till well-blended. Add conch, bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic and stir till evenly distributed in the batter.
Using a tablespoon or small scoop, drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil, taking care not to crowd them and using the spoon to keep them from sticking together. Cook about 4 minutes until the fritters are nicely browned but not dark. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Mix the dipping sauce ingredients and serve with the fritters immediately, or after leftover fritters have been reheated in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Do not microwave leftovers.
*Conch has a pleasant but mild flavor, so you could substitute chopped shrimp, clams or scallops and come out with an equally tasty product.
Love Conch Fritters! I saw someone make them on a cooking show years ago…they said you have to first pound the living daylights out of them to tenderize and then petite dice….they pics look amazing!!!
Pounding the conch meat probably wouldn’t hurt and would certainly be therapeutic, but our fritters were fine without. The neck pieces were chewy but yielded to teeth, and were a nice texture contrast to the other vegetables. It definitely is important to dice into bite size or smaller.