Kasey here, I’m a true southern girl all the way to the core. I love vegetables, and I hate fancy pancy food. In fact, last week I was in NYC at a bloggers conference. The best meal I had all week was a vegetable plate filled with lima beans, green beans, okra, mac and cheese and cornbread at the Charlotte, NC airport between flights. (I know, don’t judge me. I completely okay with it)
So, considering our love of veggies my family planted our first garden this summer. One of my daughter’s favorite veggies is fried okra. (I know, it’s not healthy) I’m one of the few people that even loves slimy boiled okra. YUMMY!
I grew up watching my grandmother cook, however I know that not everyone has had the same kind of experience. In case you’ve never tried to make homemade fried okra, here’s a step by step recipe complete with pics. Enjoy!
Wash the okra thoroughly, pat dry. Slice the okra into equal cylinder shaped pieces, if it is too tough to cut throw it away. In a bowl crack one egg, whip with a fork then add one cup of buttermilk (you can use milk if you don’t have buttermilk – I did) Stir well to mix, then add okra. Soak for a minimum of 5 minutes or up to 1 hour in the fridge but not required, I didn’t. On a separate plate add 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Stir carefully with a fork to make sure that the flour and cornmeal are thoroughly mixed up.
Use a fork or slotted spoon and move the okra to the flour/cornmeal mixture making sure to drain excess liquid.
Using your fork, shovel the flour/cornmeal mixture on top of the okra.
Continue, until all of the okra is dredged in flour.
Test to make sure your oil is hot by dropping a pinch of flour into the pan. If it immediately sizzles you are good to do. If it floats to the bottom and sits there all sad, wait a couple of minutes and try again. When the oil is hot, carefully place each piece of okra to prevent it from cooking in clumps.
When you start to see the okra brown around the sides like in the picture above, flip over. When both sides are golden brown, remove with slotted spoon and drain on a plate covered with paper towels. Lightly while it is still very hot.
Enjoy! Sooooo yummy!
- 1-2 cups fresh okra
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk or regular milk
- 1 cup all purpose flour (I used self rising b/c I was out of all purpose)
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- ¼ tsp salt & pepper
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Pour ½ inch oil in skillet, on medium high heat.
- Wash okra thoroughly, pat dry.
- Slice the okra into equal cylinder shaped pieces, if it is too tough to cut, throw it away.
- In a bowl crack one egg, whip with a fork then add one cup of buttermilk (you can use milk if you don’t have buttermilk – I did).
- Stir well to mix, then add okra.
- On a separate plate add 1 cup of flour, ¼ cup cornmeal, ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Stir carefully with a fork to make sure that the flour and cornmeal are thoroughly mixed up.
- Use a fork or slotted spoon and move the okra to the flour/cornmeal mixture making sure to drain excess liquid.
- Soak for a minimum of 5 minutes or place in fridge and soak up to one hour.
- Using your fork, shovel the flour/cornmeal mixture on top of the okra. Continue, until all of the okra is dredged in flour.
- Test to make sure your oil is hot by dropping a pinch of flour into the pan.
- If it immediately sizzles you are good to go.
- If it floats to the bottom and sits there all sad, wait a couple of minutes and try again.
- When the oil is hot, carefully place each piece of okra in skillet to prevent okra from cooking in clumps.
- When you start to see the the okra brown around the sides like in the picture above, flip over.
- When both sides are golden brown, remove with slotted spoon and drain on a plate covered with paper towels.
- Lightly salt while it is still very hot.
- Enjoy! Sooooo yummy!
