Thai Style Sweet Potato Corn Fritters

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, chile flakes, and sugar if you’re using it in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Set aside, this is your dipping sauce.

Fried:

Heat the oven to 275° F. Put the sweet potato, corn, chile, scallions, cilantro, egg, and flour in a bowl and mix well; sprinkle with salt and pepper. (You can do this ahead of time and refrigerate the batter for a couple of hours before cooking.)

Put about 1/8 inch oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, drop spoonfuls of the sweet potato mixture into the oil and spread them out a bit. (Work in batches to prevent overcrowding and transfer the finished fritters to the oven until all are finished.) Cook, turning once, until golden on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature with the dipping sauce.

Baked:

Heat the oven to 400° F. Greased a baking sheet well with vegetable oil. Place golf ball sized balls of batter onto the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature with the dipping sauce.

Fancier Fritters:

When dropped fritters aren’t quite elegant enough for the occasion, you can dust your hands with flour and shape the fritter batter into small patties, cylinders, or other shapes. Cook immediately or refrigerate, loosely covered, for up to a couple hours before cooking. To make croquettes–which are essentially breaded fritters–set up 3 bowls: one with flour, one with an egg beaten with a splash of milk, and another with bread crumbs (preferably made from whole grain bread). Carefully dredge each shaped fritter in the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally the bread crumbs. Fry until crisp and golden.