A Hungry Bear

When I was growing up, I used to spend weeks with my grandparents, who live out in the country near the Pee-Dee River in NC. They grew almost all of their own food, and despite my Gramma’s attempt to cook healthier, my Pa-Pa always wanted his vegetables fried. These days, I take after both of them - I love fried summer vegetables but feel guilty eating them at the same time. There’s something specifically about okra that is amazing - the coating really sticks to the cut sides, making it extra crispy. I’ll try to find a healthier way to prepare it soon to share with you, but for now let’s start with my favorite!

Grocery list: about a pound of okra, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour (note: if you’re out of cornmeal, as I was, you can use all flour, even though it’s somewhat less authentic), 1 egg, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch cayenne pepper, salt, peanut oil.

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together in a medium bowl.

Lop off the ends of the okra, then slice into bite-size pieces.

Stir the okra pieces into the buttermilk mixture to coat, and allow to rest while you mix up the flour coating and heat the oil.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. In a large cast iron or nonstick skillet, heat about an inch of peanut oil over medium-high heat.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the okra pieces to the bowl with the flour.

Stir to mix, so that each piece of okra gets fully coated with the flour mixture.

When the oil is shimmering, carefully shake the okra pieces from the bowl of flour with a slotted spoon and lay them into the hot oil. Only fry a single layer at a time or you’ll have big blobs of okra instead of light fluffy popcorn pieces!

Fry for about 4-5 minutes until you see brown start to creep up the sides of the okra, then carefully turn. Continue to fry for another 4-5 minutes until they are golden brown all over.

Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Immediately sprinkle with kosher salt while they are hot (so the salt will stick). If you have more than one batch to cook, you can keep them warm in the oven.