A fritter is a portion of dough, meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables or other ingredients which have been battered or breaded and fried. Fritters are prepared in both sweet and savory varieties.
In Brunei, fritters are known as cucur and they are eaten as snacks. Cucur is also part of local street food and usually sold in street market-style food booth. They are usually made with fillings which are commonly made with banana, shrimp, yam, sweet potatoes and vegetables. Some local fruits, when they are in season, are also made into cucur, most commonly durian, breadfruit, tibadak and tarap.
China
Throughout China, fritters are sold at roadsides. They may contain pork, but are commonly vegetarian.
Fritters are extremely popular roadside snacks all over South Asia and are commonly referred to as pakora' or bhajji' in local parlance—the onion bhaji also enjoys a high popularity abroad and at home. In the south Indian state of Kerala, Banana Fritters are extremely popular and are known as Pazhampori.
India
In India, a pakora is a fritter of assorted vegetables and spices.
In Indonesia fritters come under the category of gorengan, and many varieties are sold on travelling carts or by street vendors throughout Indonesia. Various kinds of ingredients are battered and deep-fried, such as pisang goreng, tempeh, mendoan, tahu goreng, oncom, sweet potato, cassava chunk, cassava tapai, cireng, bakwan and breadfruit. These are often eaten accompanied by fresh bird's eye chili. The variety known as bakwan commonly contains flour with chopped vegetables such as carrot and cabbage, whereas the fried patties called perkedel typically consist of mashed potatoes or ground corn.
Iran
The Iranian variety is called Kuku which come in different versions like the ones with potatoes or the ones with herbs. This type of fritter resembles a crustless quiche.
Japan
In Japanese cuisine, tempura is vegetable or seafood dipped and fried in a light crispy batter and served as a common accompaniment to meals.
Korea
In Korean cuisine, deep-fries are known as twigim. Twigim are often battered and breaded, but there are varieties without breading, as well as varieties without breading and batter. Popular twigim dishes include dak-twigim, gim-mari-twigim, goguma-twigim, gul-twigim, ojingeo-twigim, and saeu-twigim. Traditional vegetarian deep-fries associated with Korean temple cuisine include twigak and bugak. Twigak are made from vegetables such as dasima and bamboo shoot, without breading or batter. Bugak are made from vegetables such as dasima, perilla leaves, and chili peppers, which are coated with glutinous ricepaste and dried thoroughly.
In Malaysia, it is common for a type of fritter called "cucur" to be fried by the roadside in a large wok and sold as snacks.
Myanmar
In Burmese cuisine, fritters are called a-kyaw, while assorted fritters are called a-kyaw-sone. The most popular a-kyaw is the gourd fritter. Diced onions, chickpea, potatoes, a variety of leafy vegetables, brown bean paste, Burmese tofu, chayote, banana and crackling are other popular fritter ingredients. Black beans are made into a paste with curry leaves to make bayagyaw—small fritters similar to falafel. Unlike pisang goreng, Burmese banana fritters are made only with overripe bananas with no sugar or honey added. The savory fritters are eaten mainly at breakfast or as a snack at tea. Gourd, chickpea and onion fritters are cut into small parts and eaten with Mohinga, Myanmar's national dish. These fritters are also eaten with Kao hnyin baung rice and with Burmese green sauce—called chin-saw-kar or a-chin-yay. Depending on the fritter hawker, the sauce is made from chili sauce diluted with vinegar, water, cilantro, finely diced tomatoes, garlic and onions.
In the Philippines, egg fritters are called tokneneng or kwek-kwek, and squid fritters are called kalamares. These, along with shrimp fritters called okoy, and banana fritters called maruya are also sold in travelling cart or street side vendors.
Pumpkin fritters, served with cinammon sugar at any time of day, are popular in South Africa.
Thailand
United Kingdom
In Britishfish and chip shops, the fish and chips can be accompanied by "fritters", which means a food item, such as a slice of potato, a pineapple ring, an apple ring or chunks, or mushy peas, fried in batter. Hence: "potato fritter", "pineapple fritter", "apple fritter", "pea fritter", etc. At home and at school, fritters are also sometimes made with meat, especially Spam and corned beef. A fritter roll or roll and fritter is a potato fritter inside a bread roll, served with salt and vinegar.
In the United States, fritters are doughnuts made with a primary ingredient that is mixed with an egg and milk batter and either pan-fried or deep-fried; wheat flour, cornmeal, or a mix of the two may be used to bind the batter. "Corn fritters" are often made with whole canned corn and are generally deep-fried. "Apple fritters" are well known, although the contemporary American apple fritter is unlike the British one. Older versions of the apple fritter in the United States were prepared in the style of British ones, by slicing apples, dipping them in batter and frying them. Another regional favourite is the "zucchini fritter".
Africa
countries have many variations similar to fritters. The most common process includes the blending of peeled black eyed beans with peppers and spices to leave a thick texture. A Yoruba version, Akara, is a popular street snack and side dish in Nigerian culture
