North America · Volume 36, The Fish Fry, the Curd and the Kettle
Fried Cheese Curds
Wisconsin
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- Not statedNo source states a time and the atlas has too few comparable dishes to estimate one.
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Fried Cheese Curds
A same-day dairy product turned bar and fair food
Ingredients
- 400g fresh cheese curds
- 150g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 200ml cold lager
- 1 tsp baking powder
- as needed oil, for deep frying
Method
- Whisk the flour, egg, lager and baking powder to a smooth, thin batter.
- Heat the oil to 180°C.
- Dip the curds in the batter, letting excess drip off, and fry in small batches until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Drain briefly and serve immediately; the entire point of the dish is the contrast between the hot, molten interior and the crisp shell, and both fade within minutes.
What a modern chef changes
A same-day curd, made from scratch, for a squeak no aged shop-bought curd can match.
Method
- Press a fresh curd the same day it will be fried, using a simple cheddar-style cultured curd recipe, rather than relying on a curd that has already sat for several days, since freshness measured in single digit days, not weeks, is the entire quality variable this dish depends on.
- Fry at a slightly lower, more controlled 170°C for a fraction longer, watched with a probe thermometer rather than by eye, so the batter sets fully crisp before the curd's interior has had time to fully liquefy and burst.