Jane Burbank’s Hushpuppies (florida Cooking)

Hushpuppies are fried in hot drippings left after frying fish,
picking up some of the fresh fish flavor.

Combine the corn meal, flour, pancake mix, salt, sugar, and pepper in
a bowl. Beat the egg lightly in a measuring cup, and add the onion
and enough milk to fill to the 1-cup mark. Mix the liquids into the
dry mixture well. If not moist throughout, add a tablespoonful or
two more of milk, blending well.

Put any fish drippings you may have in a heavy frying pan and add
enough oil to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat and drop a small amount of
batter into the fat. If it sizzles, the fat is hot enough. Make a
test hushpuppy: Drop a teaspoonful of batter in; if it spreads like a
pancake, the batter is too thin, so stir a tablespoonful or two of
corn meal into the uncooked batter. If, after the test hushpuppy has
cooked, it is dense and dry, stir 2 or 3 teaspoons of milk into the
batter. When the batter consistency is right, drop the batter from
the tip of a teaspoon into the pan; cook 6, 8, or 10 at a time, being
careful not to let the hushpuppies overlap while frying. Cook until
lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes, turn, and brown the other side,
about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and keep hot while frying the
remaining hushpuppies. Add more oil to the pan as needed, a little
at a time, to prevent cooking. Fat should be kept medium-hot, to
brown hushpuppies. Check often so that hushpuppies do not scorch.

NOTE: In Florida many like to use self-rising flour and corn meal as
well as pancake mix in hushpuppies and other breads. If you wish,
substitute all-purpose flour for self-rising and the pancake mix; use
plain corn meal in place of the self-rising type. Then to the dry
ingredients add 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Add
the liquid ingredients, then proceed with the recipe as directed.