Bakwan Mai (Indonesian Corn Fritters)

Bakwan (Fried Vegetable), Bakpao (Meatbun), Bakso (Meatball), Bakmie (Meat Noodle), and bakpia (Mung bean pastry), what does “bak” mean on these Indonesian dishes? Why do they all start with “bak”. From our last recipe post we learned that bakso means fluffy meat Qor minced meat, so if assume based on that conditions bak would most probably mean minced since all of the dishes I mentioned earlier contains ingredients that are minced, it can’t be meat as not all of them contain it. Anyways that’s just a guess so if I am wrong please feel free to correct me.
Bakwan, our post today is an Indonesian fried dish mainly made with vegetables in a batter then fried to crispy perfection. This dish closely resembles the Philippine ukoy, where vegetables except for the prawns is battered and fried and like ukoy, Bakwan is a popular street food.

Bakwan can be made with different chopped vegetables but the most popular ones used are beansprouts, cabbage, corn, carrots and sometimes shrimps.

Today we will be making the corn version and it is called bakwan jagung. With this version other ingredients are added like spring onions, Chinese celery and shallots which gives it a more pleasant savoury flavour. It’s a really good side dish or a snack, perfect when served with chilli sauce or vinegar dip, its crunchy, it’s delicious
Ingredients
-3 ears fresh corn
-1½ cup water
-1½ cups all-purpose flour
-¾ cups rice flour
-2 stalks Chinese celery, thinly sliced
-2 stalks spring onions, thinly sliced
-3 pcs eggs
-8 pcs small shallots, minced
-6 cloves garlic, minced
salt
-freshly ground black pepper
-oil, for deep frying
Instructions
Separate corn kernels from the cob then place in a bowl.
Add all the remining ingredients apart from the oil. Mix well then set aside.
Prepare a large flat deep pan. Heat oil to 180C then a tablespoonful at a time add the corn batter. Cook for 2-3 minutes each side then let it drain its excess oil in a wire rack. Serve with sweet chilli sauce, vinegar dip or tomato sauce