Caribbean Conch Fritters Recipe

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The one thing that sets this Caribbean Conch fritters recipe apart from all the others, aside from it being absolutely delicious, is how easy it is to make. There’s only about 20 minutes of prep then let it sit in the fridge for the day. Pull it out and in a couple minutes you’ll be eating scrumptious conch fritters. One bite will make you feel like you’re sitting in a little seaside shack on the beach in the Caribbean. Hey, that makes me think of Island Rum Punch – I guess I’d better put up a recipe for that as well.

While the local Caribbean conch fritters recipe will change somewhat from island to island; most places we’ve been to have some similar variation. We tasted what we thought must have been the identical recipe in the Bahamas one time. What does seem to change more than the fritters themselves is what they’re served with. Every island seems to have its own accompaniment for Conch fritters.

The first time we ever tried this Caribbean Conch fritters recipe was at a road-side fish stand in Santo Domingo. We loved them so much that we stopped twice in one day to have them and then talked (and tipped) the recipe out of the merchant. They are best served hot with some sort of spicy dip, you can use a salsa, hot chili yogurt or our favorite Piquant Mango Salsa. Many locals simply squeeze a little lime juice over them right before eating.

Now the problem with conch is that it becomes increasingly more difficult to get the further you stray from the Caribbean. Try your local fish monger, they might have it – even frozen will do in a pinch for this Caribbean conch fritters recipe (although nothing beats freshly bruised conch)!

Conch substitute:

Caribbean Conch Fritters Recipe Ingredients

• 1 cup of Conch meat
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 2 red bell peppers finely diced
• 2 celery stocks finely diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ? cup of milk
• 1 medium sized onion finely diced
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• Pinch of hot chili pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 2 cloves of garlic

Caribbean Conch Fritters Recipe Preparation

• Put a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan and sweat the onions, bell peppers and celery over medium heat. Sweating means that you don’t want them to caramelize, you just want to soften them and pull a little of them moisture out of them. Don’t cook ‘em, just soften ‘em up, this should only take a few minutes (a pinch of salt helps pull the moisture out).
• Put them aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients other than the flour. Make sure everything is well mixed.
• Add the flour a little at a time until you get a batter (should be about the consistency of a thick muffin batter).
• Cover the whole bowl and let it refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavors blend together (you can leave it in there for a whole day if you like).
• Get about ? inch of vegetable oil smoking hot (approx 350 degrees) and drop in large heaping tablespoons of batter. (you can use a deep fryer for this if you have one).
• Flip them after a couple minutes, you know they’re done when they look gold and crispy all over.
• Season with salt & pepper and a few lime wedges and serve immediately. You can use any accompanying dip you like, but I suggest our Piquant Mango Salsa or just a hot chili yogurt.

For Hot Chili Yogurt mix together:

• ½ cup plain yogurt
• a few tablespoons of your favorite hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce.

I hope you enjoy my Caribbean Conch Fritters Recipe and if you have any questions or comments please contact us.