Southern Cornmeal-Fried Okra with Hot Sauce

What you need

• 450 g (1 lb) fresh okra, stems and tips trimmed, cut into 2 cm (3/4 in) rounds
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 100 g (3/4 cup) yellow cornmeal
• 30 g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
• 1 l (4 cups) neutral oil, for frying
• hot sauce, for serving

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Pat the okra pieces completely dry with paper towels.

2. 2

   Whisk the buttermilk and egg in a medium bowl.

3. 3

   Whisk the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne in a second bowl.

4. 4

   Pour the oil into a heavy pot, about 6 cm (2 1/2 in) deep, and heat to 180 °C (350 °F). Set a rack over a tray nearby.

5. 5

   Toss a handful of okra in the buttermilk mixture, then lift out with a slotted spoon and let the excess drip off.

6. 6

   Drop it into the cornmeal mixture and toss until fully coated. Shake off the loose coating.

7. 7

   Fry the coated okra in 3-4 batches, without crowding, until deep golden and crisp, 2-3 min per batch.

8. 8

   Lift out onto the rack, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and keep the oil at 180 °C (350 °F) between batches.

9. 9

   Serve right away with hot sauce.

Imported from pinkowlkitchen.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.