Ahh. Deep fried food. The epitome of 'Merica. Nothing is a more American meal than fried chicken, French fries, and funnel cakes. We are a country that will take anything and fry it to make it better. Recently, our food culture has gone out of control with frying everything from butter to lemonade to bubble gum.
With all the hype around all of these fried food items, we figured there must be a reason for it. From downright strange to mouthwatering eats, we tried it all. And let's just say some things should be left as they are.
Since we would be frying both sweet and savory items, we needed a batter that would have a neutral flavor. It's super simple to make, and although it appears thin, it's perfectly fluffy once fried. Although the amount of time in the fryer and the temperature of oil is all dependent of the food itself, it becomes perfectly golden brown. Since most of the food needed to be fried quickly in order to maintain its consistency, we kept the oil at 375ºF.
Frying Batter
- Prep Time:5 mins
- Cook Time:0
- Total Time:5 mins
- Servings:8
- Easy
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon egg
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Ingredients
-
Step 1
Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl, and the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
-
Step 2
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until the batter is no longer lumpy.
Danielle Nee
For each of the things we fried, we battered the food item and placed it in the oil. Routinely, we checked the foods to see if they were done. If the food had a crispy, golden look, it was done.
Snickers
We started off easy with a classic candy bar. Snickers work perfectly for frying because they are a pretty substantial chocolate candy bar full of nougat, peanuts, and caramel. It was the first of the foods to be fried, and we had high hopes. However, while it looked to be coming along well, when we took it out of the fryer, it fell apart.
The Verdict: If we started with a frozen candy bar, it would have worked perfectly. Because it was warm to start, the inner filling oozed out and it turned out to be a complete mess. The few pieces that were still intact were some of the best things we ate that day.
Banana Peppers
We've seen fried pickles. We've seen fried jalapeños. But banana peppers? Nope. They're slightly spicy and have a nice tang from the vinegar. To make sure we weren't splattered with oil, we dried the peppers off with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
The Verdict: The peppers fried up perfectly. The batter was nice and crispy, which contrasted the soft peppers. Dani, who is not a fan of peppers, thought the batter mellowed out the spice. So, if you aren't so keen on spicy foods, frying them will make them tolerable.
Zucchini
Vegetables are supposed to be healthy. Frying it makes it the complete opposite of a healthy dish. But hey, we were up for something new and possibly delisious.
The Verdict: In the past, when I've had zucchini fries, they have a thin, crunchy exterior. However, with this batter, it was too think and overpowered the zucchini. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the zucchini absorbed as much oil as possible which made them a greasy mess. For these, I'd stick to Cheesecake Factory's version.
Apple
I've watched Giada DeLaurentis make fried apples and thought it would be the perfect oppertunity to try out one of my favorite chef's creations. Just as we did with the peppers, we dried the apple slices off the make sure none of the excess water slashes back up.
The Verdict: We had high hopes since a Food Network chef herself recommended them. However, the apples were soggy, and, quite frankly, nasty. Giada did add cinnamon, but I don't think anything would have helped our sad pieces of apple.
Avocado
Just as most teenage girls, we love avocado. We both can eat it with just a sprinkle of salt. Instead of just adding salt, we fried it first, and then added salt.
The Verdict: Dani was a huge fan of the avocado. Marisa, although she had high hopes for all the the foods, was let down once again. She believes avocados are best when cold, preferrably as guac, not heated in a vat of oil.
By the end of our experiment, not only were we tried of eating greasy food, but more importantly, let down. While the banana peppers were each our favorite, the others were complete misses.
If you're going to fry something, stink up the entire house for a solid three days, and eat all the added calories, you might as well just bake it for a nearly definite better taste. Or, better yet, eat it plain. Let's face it: some things are better not fried.