Spam Fritters are an absolute British classic comfort food and so easy.
INGREDIENTS
- 1x 12oz/350g can of Spam
- 1 cup / 150g Plain/All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup / 240ml COLD Beer (see notes)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp each: White Pepper, Salt
- Oil, for deep frying (see notes)
Optional
- 4 squares of Cheese, halved/sliced to the size of one fritter (Cheddar or Swiss work great)
- Dijon Mustard, as needed
DIRECTIONS
- Remove spam from tin (follow instructions on can, make sure it comes out whole). Place on chopping board and slice into 8 equal sized wedges. I find this easiest by halving (2), halving those halves (4), then halving each of those (8).
- Lay each wedge flat and very lightly spread with dijon mustard (not too much, just enough for the cheese to stick ~1/2tsp). Lay each slice of cheese on top and firmly press down so it sticks to the spam.
- Combine flour in a bowl with baking powder, white pepper and salt. Making sure the cheese stays intact, carefully (but thoroughly) coat each fritter in flour.
- At this point pour 3-4cups/750ml-1litre oil in a deep pan and heat it to 180C/356F.
- Once all the fritters are coated in the flour pour in the COLD beer. Use a whisk to stir (don't over beat or the bubbles with burst, some small lumps are fine). If you go OTT with the beer and it's too thin just mix in a few pinches more flour, vice versa with the flour. Again, you want the batter as airy and cold as possible so don't beat the hell out of it. It should be somewhat thin, but thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Use a fork to lower the fritters into the batter, allow them to fully coat, then carefully transfer into the hot oil. Work in batches of 3-4. You want to work fairly quickly as you want the batter to be as cold and bubbly as possible.
- Once the fritters are in the oil the temp will drop, so try and keep it at a steady 180C/356F (increase heat as needed). Allow them to fry for a couple of minutes, then flip and continue cooking until golden. Remove one by one and place on a wire rack with paper towels UNDERNEATH (don't place straight on paper towels or they'll go soggy). Repeat with second batch.
NOTES
- Beer - Really important the beer is left unopened in the fridge until the last minute. You want it nice and cold and bubbly so it makes the most crispy/airy batter. In terms of what beer to use I usually go for Fosters or Heineken but any lager beer will work. Beer works best as it gives a richer flavor and the alcohol burns off quick (so crispier batter) but a neutral flavored soda water can sub at a push.
- Oil - You need to use an oil with a high smoking point. Sunflower, vegetable and rapeseed all work well and are great for their neutral flavors. Peanut oil is great, but obvious injects a mild peanut flavor. Do not use olive oil.
- Batter - Really important to not over mix the batter, you don't want to beat the bubbles out. Because it's a rough and ready batter, it's easily adjustable, so if you go slightly OTT with the beer you can easily mix in more flour to thicken.
- Tips for Deep Frying - If you're not confident with deep frying I recommend just testing with one in the first instance, then increase from there (up to 4 in the pan). Important to make sure the oil reaches temp before adding the fritters AND that it maintains, otherwise the fritters will absorb too much oil and they'll be oily/soggy.
- Classic Spam Fritters - Classic spam fritters of course don't use mustard/cheese, so feel free to make these without and continue the recipe as stated.
- Calories - Difficult to calculate how much oil is soaked up and how much batter is used, but nutrition based on using all the batter and 1/2tsp oil soaked up per fritter. No cheese or mustard.
If you're interested here is a slightly different variation with the inclusion of Tumeric. Gives it a nice color AND it is good for your body.
The Crispy Batter
- 1 tin/can of Spam
- 90g / 3.2oz Plain or all- purpose flour
- 30g / 1oz Corn flour (corn starch)
- 4g / 1tsp Baking powder
- 4g / 1tsp Ground Turmeric
- 150g / 150mls Ice cold Soda water or Larger
- Seasoned Plain flour (on a plate)
- Oil for frying
Making The Crispy Batter
- Push all of the dry ingredients through a fine sieve into a bowl.
- Add the soda water or larger to the bowl, gently mix together using a spatula, don’t over mix.
- Get the oil onto a medium heat.
- Cut your spam into however many slices you need, one large can yields approx.: 10 slices
- Dredge the spam slices in the seasoned flour, pat off any excess flour.
