Corn Dodgers (Hush Puppies)
Updated February 23, 2016 
It’ difficult to say what the original corn dodgers were like because there are hundreds of recipes. Essentially you mixed up cornmeal with water or whatever else you had on hand that might improve the taste—eggs, milk, wild onions, or bacon grease, for instance—then you fried it or baked it in a small oval cake. The variations all had names depending on how they were shaped or prepared. These included corn dabs, hoecakes, and hush puppies, but sources disagree about which one was which. My experiments with historical recipes for fried and baked cornmeal and water cakes (often called corn pone or johnnycakes) convinced me that these disappeared for good reason. Hush puppies are the surviving example of the corn-cake genre, and they are extremely popular in East Texas. Consider making hush puppies when you are already heating oil for fried catfish or fried chicken.
About20
Cooking Methodfrying
CostInexpensive
Total Timeunder 30 minutes
Kid FriendlyYes
OccasionFamily Get-together, game day
Recipe Courseside dish, snack
Moodblue
Taste and Texturecrisp, savory
Ingredients
- 2½ cups yellow cornmeal, plus more if needed
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- Peanut oil for deep-frying
Instructions
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Mix the cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
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Beat the buttermilk and egg together and combine with the dry ingredients and onion. The batter should be stiff enough to hold its shape. If the batter is too soft, add more cornmeal until it is firm enough to hold shape.
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In a deep frying pan, pour peanut oil to a depth of 2 inches and heat to 350°F. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the hot oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Maintain the oil temperature and fry in batches of four or five.
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Drain on paper towels and hold in a warm oven until all the hush puppies are finished. Serve hot.
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WILD ONION CORN DODGERS: Substitute 3 tablespoons chopped wild onions or scallions for the chopped onion and proceed as directed.
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JALAPEÑO CORN DODGERS: Add a tablespoon of minced fresh jalapeño chiles and proceed as directed.
2007 Robb Walsh
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SissieSass
Jun 29, 2017
When I think of hush puppies, I think of the classic cornmeal mix that you describe, but the onion is the main ingredient besides the corn meal. If it were not for onions, then this recipe would not take on the flavor that we all seem to remember eating as a kid. You can pair this little flavor bombs with just about anything from chicken to beans, and especially seafood.
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