Here in Puerto Rico, fried cornmeal sticks are a popular snack. They take a lot of time, but they are worthwhile. Make careful to consume them right away. The corn sticks are, in my opinion, approximately as good as cold French fries once they have cooled off.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 50 sticks |
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups yellow cornmeal
- 5 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste (Optional)
- 4 ounces Edam cheese, shredded
- 2 cups oil for deep frying
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Combine water and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in cornmeal and sugar. Return to medium heat; cook stirring constantly until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in Edam cheese until well blended.
- Roll tablespoonfuls of cornmeal mixture into balls. Then roll balls into small fat sticks about 3 inches long. In a medium bowl, mix ketchup and mayonnaise to make a dipping sauce. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large heavy skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Carefully place some cornmeal sticks into hot oil so they are not crowded. Fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from hot oil and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 361 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 795 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My mom used to make these cornmeal fritters. Not as sticks but as little balls. We loved them. This recipe is very good so it’s a keeper. I only used 3 tbsp of sugar but added 2 tbsp of butter to the boiling water. When the water mixture boiled, I removed the pan from the heat and added the cornmeal slowly while gently mixing. Add the cheese and fold. I used a small ice cream scoop to get even-sized balls that I quickly rolled by hand to compact them. Cool or freeze before frying so they don’t break.
Delicious. If I am frying fish or chicken I am making this too.
My mother used to make these for me all the time. Came out pretty good, but next time I’ll add less salt and a little more sugar.
There was a reviewer here that said to dip it back in cornmeal after rolling it before you fry it. I did just that and it gave it crunch and it did not fall apart. I think next time I’ll put less sugar but overall me and my daughter loved it.
I love surulitos and have been making them a while, but wanted to find a different recipe and found this one. I followed the recipe, but left the sugar out because I like it better that way. I used chedder cheese to blend in with the cornmeal. I use a sandwich bag to shape them up like a stick. I added some photos so you can see, and I will try to explain what I did. I took a large spoon to scoop up the cooked cornmeal and placed it on the middle of the bag. Then with both hands I folded it over from both sides to create your stick shape. ( I love cheese so before I folded the 2 sides I added grated romano cheese in the middle. )I slowly put into the hot oil and within minutes it was done! So Yummy! They turn out delicious. Make sure oil is hot and if you follow the directions it will be perfect!
I used coconut water instead and 1 Tbl. less of sugar, they were delicious.
I like to use less sugar, around maybe 2 tbsp or 3 at the most, because I enjoy a more savory flavor. It’s also very useful to refrigerate the surullitos (with wax paper in between the layers); this allows them to solidify for better shape-keeping when frying 🙂 I also use yellow cheddar, as a personal preference 🙂
Great recipe, you can also add cheese inside the Surullitos and have them as cigars or rolled up as a ball and also you can add garlic & a bit of cheese to the mayo & Ketchup sauce…besides that you got it to the teeth…ummmm thanks!
Yum! Instead of frying I baked, and instead of rolling little cigars I rolled the dough flat and cut fries out using a pizza slicer. This worked fairly well, but I needed quite a bit of flour and cornmeal to aid in handling. I had used this recipe to replicate corn fries from favorite restaurant no longer in business— they worked just fine. In the future I will add more spices to the dough.
GREAT recipe! Very tasteful! 🙂 One thing to improve it: when you make the sticks, roll them in raw cornmeal (the same you just used!) before frying. This way, they won’t stick and they will be even crispier!
this recipe its good but the only problem its that you have to use a lot of oil to make sure they float and a non-stick pan to fry them, because if they get stuck its a mess. Also make sure they are not too soft.
Maybe it was my mistake but this recipe disintegrated in my frier. Next I tried to pan fry and had the same mess. Seems to me, it needs a bonding agent. Maybe someone else will have better results but for me it was a disaster.