August 2, 2018

Zucchini Hush Puppies with Wasabi Dipping Sauce

Zucchini Hush Puppies with Wasabi Dipping Sauce. Hush puppies made with zucchini, fried to a perfect crisp, and dipped in a wasabi sauce. Vegetables have never tasted so good.

Today is day 4 of zucchini week on the blog, and it is a good one because it involves hush puppies. My husband and I took our kids to the beach last week for a long weekend. We ate all kinds of beach food, meaning lots of fried and other generally unhealthy things. It was good. When we got back I thought, “I could use my zucchini to make hush puppies!” I was really excited.

So, I broke out my fryer. I have mentioned before in my Oven Fried Chicken post that I don’t love to fry things. But I wanted to do something different, and fun, and thought everyone would enjoy these. I remembered a wasabi dipping sauce I had a restaurant recently, and thought that would be perfect for these hush puppies.

My husband took my son to the store for something, so I made these tasty bites. I was so proud of myself. Well, my husband didn’t eat any. Later I asked him about it and he said, “I don’t really like hush puppies.” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t know such an important fact about the father of my children. However, it turns out he has told me this fact numerous times, and evidently it just hasn’t stuck with me (<– my husband edits my posts and added that … I’m in the market for a new, non-paid editor). I still can’t understand how anyone could not like fried cornmeal.

But my shock quickly turned to a little bit of happiness, because that meant there were more for me. Besides the fact that these include zucchini, I can’t think of much that is healthy about these, but friends, they are worth it. So make them as an appetizer, side dish, or take them to your next party, no one will be sad about eating their zucchini this way.

Zucchini Hush Puppies with Wasabi Dipping Sauce

5 from 2 votes

Course: Appetizer

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 20

Servings: hush puppies

Calories: 61

Ingredients

Hush Puppies

2 1/2 cups zucchini shredded
1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
~3 cups corn oil

Sauce

1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 - 1 teaspoon wasabi depending on spice level preference

Instructions

Hush Puppies

Place zucchini in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 5 minutes. Carefully remove bowl from microwave (it will be hot, you may need oven mitts), and place zucchini in a strainer. Once zucchini is cool to touch, use paper towels to squeeze out extra water.
In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion.
Add egg, buttermilk and zucchini. Stir until very well combined.
In a large pot on the stove, or in a fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees.
Once oil is hot, drop dough into oil in ~1/2 to 1 tbsp sized drops. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oil and set on paper towels to drain.

Sauce

Stir together Greek yogurt, soy sauce, honey and lemon juice until very well combined. Add wasabi about 1/4 teaspoon at a time until desired flavor is reached.