Conch Fritters (Bahamian Fried Sea-Snout Fritters) 🍤

Name: Conch Fritters (Bahamian Fried Sea-Snout Fritters)
Prep time: 16 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Bahamian
Ingredients: 300 g fresh conch meat (or a mix of conch and small shrimp/scallop if conch is scarce); Juice of 1 lime + water for rinsing the conch; 1/2 onion, minced very fine; 1/2 green sweet pepper + a quarter of a Scotch bonnet (or 1/4 tsp cayenne), minced; 1 celery stalk, minced; 2 sprigs thyme; leaves only; 2 spring onions; sliced; 150 g plain flour + 20 g cornmeal (optional), 1 tsp baking powder, salt, pepper; 1 egg + 100-130 ml water or milk for a thick-cream batter; Oil for deep frying; lime wedges to serve

The island appetizer that ruins bar snacks everywhere else: finely chopped queen conch folded into a seasoned batter with onion, sweet pepper, celery, thyme and a hit of Scotch bonnet, dropped by spoonfuls into hot oil, and served blistered gold with a squeeze of lime. In Nassau every fish fry, beach shack and Sunday kitchen has a recipe — some add cornmeal, some a little rum, purists argue about the pepper ratio endlessly. The conch must be pounded tender and cut fine; the batter must be loose enough to fry crisp but thick enough to hold. Two-bite rounds of the Caribbean: briny, herby, faintly hot, gone in an instant.

Caribbean Bahamian ⏱ 40 min Facile

Méthode

1

Clean the conch: rinse in lime juice and cold water, rub off the dark skin, and pound the meat with a meat mallet or the back of a heavy knife until tender. Chop very fine — the size of coarse breadcrumbs. Chill.
2

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Beat in the egg, then enough liquid to make a thick-cream batter. Fold in conch, onion, peppers, celery, thyme and spring onions.
3

Heat oil to 180°C. Test: a tiny spoonful should sizzle up golden in 60-90 seconds. Drop heaped teaspoons into the oil, not too close — they spread and float.
4

Fry 3-4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and puffed. Drain briefly on a rack (paper flattens the crust).
5

Serve immediately with lime. At a Bahamian fish fry they come with peas-and-rice and cold Kalik or Sands; at home, an ice beer and a hot pepper sauce do the job.

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