Battered and Fried

Food fried a la romana (in egg batter)—squid is often cooked this way in Spain—has a softer, moister crust than that fried in eggless batter.

Crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside—this is eggplant at its best. Get the recipe for Fried Eggplant »

We found this recipe—a flavorful local favorite, in which tender artichoke bottoms are fried and served with an intense, tahini-based sauce—at al-Az, a casual but well-known restaurant in Damascus. Get the recipe for Fried Artichoke Hearts with Taratur Sauce »

These croquettes can also be filled with chicken or tuna. See the recipe for Meat-Stuffed Potato Croquettes »

These oyster fritters are meltingly tender with a beer batter that is surprisingly airy.

See the Recipe

Fried Chicken Livers

This dish is based on the crab-stuffed jalapeños found on menus throughout southeast Texas. We found that chilling the chiles after stuffing them makes them easier to coat with bread crumbs and fry.

This recipe was given to us by Lonnee Hamilton, who recommends spooning some bacon grease into the frying oil to give the fish a smokier flavor.

Adding beer to the batter helps the fish for these tacos fry up golden brown and lightly crispy.

Double-frying chicken wings gives them a delicate, crackly crust that is the hallmark of this popular Korean specialty, made famous in this country at the Los Angeles restaurant Kyochon.

Bruce and Eric Bromberg, the authors of Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2010), invented this recipe for crisp-tender, quick-cooked collards when they ran out of spinach at their restaurant Blue Ribbon and substituted collards instead.

Deep-frying seafood in a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil imparts fruity, peppery flavors and creates an incredibly delicate crust.

These lemon-and-dill-flavored fish cakes are a favorite of northeastern Massachusetts.

Mexico’s overstuffed cemita poblana brims with queso blanco, chipotle, pepper, avocado, papalo and crisp milanesa (a fried cutlet). Get the recipe for Cemita Poblana »

Simply seasoned and fried, with a thin, crisp coating and tender, juicy meat, the fried chicken at Martha Lou’s Kitchen is some of the best we’ve ever tasted.

Chef Jim Leiken of DBGB in New York City serves pesto-spiked mayonnaise as a dipping sauce for fried calamari, cauliflower, and chickpeas.

The substitution of almond flour for conventional wheat flour in this recipe, developed by Judy Haubert, originated as a gluten-free workaround, but actually makes the cakes moister and more tender than traditional crab cakes. Get the recipe for Almond-Flour Crab Cakes with Lemon Aioli »

A flavorful batter infused with honey, paprika, and lager beer is the secret to these crunchy onion rings. Get the recipe for Beer-Battered Onion Rings »

Sour cream and fines herbes make a great sauce for cooling down a spicy snack like our fried cucumbers. Get the recipe for Fried Cucumbers with Sour Cream Dipping Sauce »

This cornbread batter gets an extra kick from cayenne pepper and a slurp of buttermilk.

Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, potato croquettes filled with a combination of white cheddar and salty ham are the ultimate party snack. Get the recipe for Virginia Ham and White Cheddar Croquettes »

Earthy sage enhances the woodsy flavor of shiitake mushrooms in this simple fried appetizer.

Crunchy, batter-fried parsley sprigs not only make a great appetizer, but are equally good as a garnish for grilled fish or soup.

Inexpensive cube steaks, tenderized by the butcher, work best for this heartland breakfast staple. Get the recipe for Chicken-Fried Steak with Sausage Gravy »

Double-fried chicken marinated in an aromatic brine is a specialty of the house at the restaurant Rye KC in Leawood, Kansas.