Veggies: Fried Okra

If you are from the south, you know what this is!

If not that's OK, let me introduce you to the amazing veggie called Okra. You can do lots of things with this extremely versatile vegetable. You can stew it down, you can pickle it, or you can have it my favorite way...fried!  

There is a trick to frying okra that I discovered after many years of practice. That one secret ingredient that keeps that beautiful cornmeal on and not all in your hot grease: Buttermilk! 

You don't need a lot of ingredients or a lot of time. 

You're gonna need:

10 to 20: Fresh Okra to chop

2 cups: Self Rising Corn Meal

1 cup: Butter Milk

Salt

Pepper

Enough Cooking Oil to just cover the okra when frying

The first thing to do is wash your okra and chip it up. It is going to be slimy, but that is what you want, that's the good stuff. You simply chop the top off and cut small circles all the way to the end. Try to keep the pieces about the same size. Some people fry the end up too, but I cut just the tiny end off and throw it away with the tops. Put all that gorgeous cut okra into a bowl. 

Now your hands are gonna get a little slimy but sometimes you gotta sacrifice for the flavor. Pour about a teaspoon of salt into the bowl and mix it up with your fingers. You should be able to feel the little grains from heaven coating the okra. If you need more just sprinkle in some more. Do the same with the pepper. 

Here's the magic! Pour about half a cup of the buttermilk over the okra and use your hands to just mix it up. It should coat all the okra. If you need more just continue to add a little at a time until you have it the way you want it. 

Sprinkle about a cup of the corn meal over the mixture. You can now switch to a spoon and just lightly mix in the meal. You want it to be an almost dry coating, not clumpy, but individual pieces well coated. Keep sprinkling and stirring the okra until you have what you like.

Last-we gotta get to frying. I love a cast iron skillet, but you can use any deep frying pan you have. Pour in enough grease so that the okra will float from the bottom a little when they are done. Be careful to not over fill your pan with oil, it really doesn't take that much oil. 

I start my pan on high heat but turn it down to medium heat after the okra starts turning a little brown. You want your grease hot, but not smoking when you carefully put in your okra. I actually use a spoon to scoop a few pieces in at a time. Another tip, don't put too much okra in the pan, you want them to be able to float to the top when they are done. You will also need to stir them around as they are cooking. If you feel that your grease is getting too hot or your okra is browning too fast, cut your heat down. 

The best thing about frying Okra is that you can decide if you want that dark brown crispy, crispy okra or if you want a lighter brown, not so crispy but still yummy okra. When you get the crispness that you like and the inside is tender, you are done! Scoop out the pieces and let the excess oil drip back in the pan. I always put mine onto a plate covered with a couple paper towels to drain the extra grease. I also sprinkle a little more salt and pepper over the fried okra just to give it a little more zing!  Try dipping your okra in a little ketchup when you eat it too, you will never eat it another way if you try it!

Now I'm hungry, I am going to go fry me up some Okra. 

Please share your okra recipes and pictures with us in the comments!