Grandmother Phillips’ Fried Okra
I remember my father’s paternal grandmother as a strong, Southern woman. She was a force. I only saw her on holidays but I will never forget her cooking, which we ate at home all throughout the year. She used to freeze her fresh-from-the-garden, hand-battered okra and we would take it home in bags every winter. That fried okra was a precious commodity, which we rationed carefully until the next Christmas.
Grandmother Phillips had a garden in her backyard. She grew everything in it. I remember describing her to friends as a farmer, though she did not sell her produce for a living. She canned and froze everything. She was an expert in preservation. Preservation of food and of tradition and of family. The garage of her old home was lined with walls and walls of cans: cucumber, okra, squash, peas, peaches– you name it, she had it canned from her garden.
At Christmas we would visit her home in (relatively) rural, northern Alabama and there would be an endless array of options. People would comment about how excessive the spread was, but Grandmother Phillips’ would never pare it down. Only after her death did I come to see how food is a love language for Southern folks and that my grandmother was showing her love for us by feeding us well.
After she died I remember looking into our freezer and seeing one last bag of her homemade fried okra. I don’t remember the last meal we ate with that one remaining batch of Grandmother Phillips’ okra, but I’ve been trying to recreate the recipe for most of my adult life.
We recently joined a CSA program, which gives us plenty of fresh produce to consume weekly. Grandmother Phillips would probably call it lazy eating, but it gives us plenty of okra to experiment with and I have finally been able to get satisfactorily close to her fried okra.
Grandmother Phillips would never forgive me if I did not mention that this fried okra freezes well, and makes enough that some ought to be frozen for later.
Grandmother Phillips' Fried Okra
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup whole milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 pounds fresh okra
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 dash cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- canola or avocado oil
Instructions
Soak the okra.
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First, combine the milk and vinegar in a measuring cup. Let it sit for 15 minutes. (Alternatively: skip this step and use 1 cup buttermilk.)
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Next, wash and slice the okra into 1/2" - 1" thick rounds.
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In a medium-sized bowl, mix the okra and milk. Let this sit for at least 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix the remaining, dry in ingredients.
Coat okra.
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When your okra is done "marinating", drain the excess buttermilk.
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Toss the okra in the flour mixture. Toss in batches as to avoid the pieces clumping together, or coat each piece individually for best results.
Pan fry in a high-temp oil over medium heat.
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I find that this, too, works best in batches and there is no need to keep the okra on one side and tediously flip every piece halfway through cooking. It is fine to toss them in the pan and shake it around every now and then to evenly brown each piece.
Drain.
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Drain the okra on paper towels and sprinkle with a fine, table salt. After cooling, it can be placed in a bag and frozen for later.
Recipe Notes
*If you have the time and patience, batter each okra circle one at a time. Try to keep them as separate as possible!
**One of the greatest things about this okra is that each bite is a little different. It is fully homemade and thus "rustic" in both texture and flavor. Do not concern yourself over perfect knife cuts or even browning, as this okra should be a delicious, low-stress side!
