Bakwan Jagung – Indonesian Corn Fritters

Let’s learn how to make Indonesian Corn Fritters! Known in Indonesian as bakwan jagung or perkedel jagung – they’re surprisingly easy to make with everyday ingredients. Packed with juicy corn kernels and zingy flavour from kaffir lime and ground spices, these Indonesian corn fritters are crispy, crunchy, and totally addictive! Includes three bonus delicious dipping sauce ideas. 

Why We Love This Recipe

• Bakwan jagung corn fritters are a beloved street snack in Indonesia, but they’re actually super easy to whip up at home.
• This generous recipe will make enough Indonesian corn fritters to feed a horde of hungry foodies! Even better, any leftover corn fritters can be frozen and re-heated for another delicious fritter feast. 

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What are Bakwan Jagung?

Bakwan in English means vegetable fritter snack, while jagung means corn. Indonesian corn fritters are commonly sold by street vendors, who whip up and fry these tasty snacks on the street or at local food markets. 

Where Did Corn Fritters Originate?

This corn fritters recipe is from Indonesia, but the dish itself is said to originate from Native American cuisine.

What You’ll Need

• Corn kernels – fresh or canned
• Plain / all purpose flour
• Rice flour – this helps make the cooked fritters extra crispy!
• Shallots
• Garlic 
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Cabbage leaves
• Spring onions
• Turmeric
• Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
• Eggs
• Oil for frying 

How to Make Bakwan Jagung – Indonesian Recipe

• Pop all those tasty ingredients except the water, eggs and oil in a big bowl,  then give them a quick stir. Next, make a well in the middle and crack in the eggs. Slowly start to mix, adding in water little by little until it’s mixed into a thin and runny batter. If it’s too thick, you won’t get that satisfying crunch, so thinner is definitely better.
• Now heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. You’ll know the oil is hot enough when bubbles appear around a toothpick dipped in the oil.
• Drop a ladleful of batter into the hot oil (carefully!) and fry until the batter turns a mouth-watering golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side. Feel free to deep-fry a few fritters at a time if you have the space.
• When fritters are cooked, scoop them out of the oil and drain on a wire rack or paper towel.
• Keep cooking until all the batter has been used up.
• Don’t forget to serve hot and crispy with tomato sauce, chilli sauce or kecap manis.

Tips

• You can use fresh corn to make bakwan jagung – if so, just slice it straight off the cob and pop it into your batter. We actually used canned corn in this recipe to make it even quicker and easier to make. 
• Peanut oil or canola oil are the best choice for deep frying corn fritters because of their high smoke points.  This helps the fritters cook faster and creates a seal to stop the oil soaking through the batter. 
• Corn fritters can be served warm or at room temperature according to preference. 
• Avoid overcrowding the pan when cooking. Give each fritter plenty of space in the pan to cook evenly. 

FAQs

What spices / seasonings (bumbu) in Indonesian corn fritters?

Indonesian style corn fritters include salt, pepper and sugar to taste, as well as ground turmeric, which gives these corn fritters their delicious golden colour. 

Are bakwan jagung healthy?

The secret to making healthy bakwan jagung is to let the oil come up to the perfect temperature before cooking. According to healthline.com this is because the hot oil forms a seal around the fritter, preventing the oil from seeping into the batter and helping the fritters steam from the inside out. 

Can you freeze/reheat corn fritters?

Yes, corn fritters can be frozen and reheated in a toaster or frying pan. If possible, avoid microwaving as this will make them loose their delicious crispy texture. 

Can you make corn fritters in advance?

Yes, you can make corn fritter batter up to two days in advance before cooking. 

Variations & Substitutes

• While jagung literally means ‘corn’ in Indonesian, there are actually a heap of different variations to the recipe, so feel free to experiment. Some of the more popular vegetarian ingredients are shredded cabbage, julienne carrots and green beans. For protein, why not try adding chicken (ayam) or prawns (udang/ebi)?

Dipping Sauce Ideas for Indonesian Corn Fritters

All that you need now are some tasty dipping sauces to go with your crispy fried bakwan jagung. Indonesians will happily dip away in tomato sauce or chilli sauce, but personally we think they’d be pretty amazing with a little drizzle of kecap manis (sweet sticky Indonesian soy sauce).

More Spicy Indonesian Recipe Inspiration

• Indonesian Curry with Fish
• Gado Gado Salad
• Roti Pisang Cokelat (aka Chocolate Banana Bread)

Or check out our collections of exotic appetisers or tasty snacks.

★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!

Bakwan Jagung - Indonesian Corn Fritters

Let's learn how to make Indonesian Corn Fritters! Known in Indonesian as bakwan jagung or perkedel jagung - they're surprisingly easy to make with everyday ingredients. Packed with juicy corn kernels and zingy flavour from kaffir lime and ground spices, these Indonesian corn fritters are crispy, crunchy, and totally addictive! Includes three bonus delicious dipping sauce ideas. 

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Indonesian

Servings: 20 fritters

Calories: 97kcal

Author: Wandercooks

Cost: $5

Equipment

• Large frypan or deep fryer

Ingredients

• 400 g corn kernels fresh or canned
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¾ cup rice flour
• 10 shallots finely chopped
• 3 - 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves finely chopped
• 2 cabbage leaves thinly sliced
• 2 spring onions thinly sliced
• 1 tsp turmeric
• pinch salt, pepper & sugar to taste
• 300 ml water
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil for frying, or more as required

Dipping sauce options:

• 1 tbsp Tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp Chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp Kecap manis

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Pop all those tasty ingredients in a big bowl except the water, eggs and oil, then give it a quick stir. Next, make a well in the middle and crack in the eggs. Slowly start to mix, adding in water little by little until it's mixed into a thin and runny batter. If it's too thick, you won't get that satisfying crunch, so thinner is definitely better.
• Now heat up the oil in a large frying pan or wok. You’ll know the oil is hot enough when bubbles appear around a toothpick dipped in the oil.
• Drop a ladleful of batter into the hot oil (carefully!) and fry until the batter turns a mouth-watering golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side. Feel free to deep-fry a few fritters at a time if you have the space.
• When fritters are cooked, scoop them out of the oil and drain on a wire rack or paper towel. Sprinkle with salt to taste.
• Keep cooking until all the batter has been used up.
• Serve hot and crispy with tomato sauce, chilli sauce or kecap manis.

Notes

Tips

• You can use fresh corn to make bakwan jagung - if so, just slice it straight off the cob and pop it into your batter. We actually used canned corn in this recipe to make it even quicker and easier to make. 
• Peanut oil or canola oil are the best choice for deep frying corn fritters because of their high smoke points.  This helps the fritters cook faster and creates a seal to stop the oil soaking through the batter. 
• Corn fritters can be served warm or at room temperature according to preference. 
• Avoid overcrowding the pan when cooking. Give each fritter plenty of space in the pan to cook evenly. 

 

FAQs

• What spices / seasonings (bumbu) in Indonesian corn fritters? Indonesian style corn fritters include salt, pepper and sugar to taste, as well as ground turmeric, which gives these corn fritters their delicious golden colour. 
• Are bakwan jagung healthy? The secret to making healthy bakwan jagung is to let the oil come up to the perfect temperature before cooking. According to healthline.com this is because the hot oil forms a seal around the fritter, preventing the oil from seeping into the batter and helping the fritters steam from the inside out. 
• Can you freeze/reheat corn fritters? Yes, corn fritters can be frozen and reheated in a toaster or frying pan. If possible, avoid microwaving as this will make them loose their delicious crispy texture. 
• Can you make corn fritters in advance? Yes, you can make corn fritter batter up to two days in advance before cooking. 

 

Variations & Substitutes

• While jagung literally means 'corn' in Indonesian, there are actually a heap of different variations to the recipe, so feel free to experiment. Some of the more popular vegetarian ingredients are shredded cabbage, julienne carrots and green beans. For protein, why not try adding chicken (ayam) or prawns (udang/ebi)?

Nutrition

Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 78mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 69IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

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Where We Learned This Recipe

Despite the name, this recipe for Bakwan Jagung (Indonesian Corn Fritters) comes to you by way of a little detour through Kagoshima, Japan. The popular university town sees people flying in from all over the world to study, and we just happened to meet up with a group of awesome Indonesian expats while staying with one of our favourite airbnb hosts.

(Oh Yuko and Himari, how we miss you… and your amazing miso soup.)

We all caught up one night at an angklung lesson, and there were so many languages flying around the room my poor brain just couldn’t keep up. At one stage, I’m pretty sure I mixed Indonesian, Japanese and English words all together in one sentence! But apart from a few grins everyone thankfully understood. 😛

After the class we hit it off chatting with our new friend Bunda and ventured back to her apartment to cook up an Indonesian feast. There was spicy sambal telur (boiled eggs in hot chilli sauce), coto makassar (beef stew) fried tempeh (soybean cake) and a batch of these sweet and delicious bakwan jagung corn fritters.

Made from a mix of corn and vegetables in a runny corn flour batter, we cooked up the fritters on a tiny portable gas cooker a few at a time until crispy, crunchy and golden brown.