Dr Mobeus
Corned Beef Fritters
Corned beef fritters are the best thing you can do with a tin of the stuff. Chopped into buttery mash with grated onion and a splash of Worcestershire sauce, then fried until the edges go crisp, they turn about £3.30 of ordinary ingredients into a proper dinner for four.
At roughly 83p a portion they are cheaper than any ready meal, and the mixture comes together in one bowl with no equipment beyond a pan and a masher. If you can make mash, you can make these.
The two things that matter are dry potatoes and a cold rest. Wet mash makes fritters that fall apart, and shaping them with wet hands keeps the mix from sticking. Everything else is forgiving.
Corned Beef Fritters
Ingredients
Method
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 12 to 15 minutes until soft, then drain well and mash until smooth. Spread the mash in the pan to cool for 10 minutes. Getting the potatoes dry is what makes the fritters hold together.
- Tip the mash into a bowl and add the chopped corned beef, onion, egg, flour, Worcestershire sauce, salt and plenty of black pepper. Mix well, mashing the corned beef through the potato so it forms a thick, workable mixture.
- Shape the mixture into 8 flat rounds, about 7cm across, with wet hands. Dust each one lightly with flour and rest them on a plate for 10 minutes to firm up.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the fritters in two batches for 3 to 4 minutes each side until dark golden and crisp, pressing them flat with a spatula halfway through.
- Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with baked beans, brown sauce or a fried egg on the side.
Tips and Variations
Chilling the shaped fritters for 20 minutes before frying helps them hold together even better, and they can be frozen raw between sheets of baking paper then fried from frozen with an extra minute per side. Add a teaspoon of mustard powder to the mix, or swap the Worcestershire sauce for a squirt of tomato ketchup. Leftover fritters are excellent in a sandwich the next day with plenty of brown sauce.
