The key to making the perfect fried zucchini is the technique:
- The zucchini must release enough water
- The batter should be made fresh
- Theyi can’t sit in the batter for too long
- The oil needs to be hot to create a nice crust
- The oil from the fried zucchini must drain
- And of course, these should be eaten ASAP (that’s the easy part!)
Types of flour, water, beer
Lina, Giuseppe’s mom, likes using a product in Italy called farine magiche frittura (“magic flour for frying”). And yes, it really is magic because the zucchini comes out crunchier.
Farine magiche frittura is a mix of type 00 flour, wheat starch, rice flour, bread flour, and baking powder. I don’t see it as readily available in US grocery stores (please leave a comment below if you have). I suppose you could make your own if you have all the ingredients on hand, but that sounds like a lot of work.
When Lina doesn’t have farine magiche frittura, she uses type 00 flour and very cold sparkling water (that’s our recommendation for you). Or! A more exciting option – very cold beer.
If this is your first time making this, we recommend starting with sparkling water. But, since it’s summer, maybe just go for it? OR! If cooking for a crowd, do half and half and get some cold, hard data.
Personally, we’ve never seen a fried zucchini we didn’t like, so you can’t really go wrong.
Types of cooking oil
In our home, we only use olive oil for all cooking and frying. Use your preferred frying oil.
Do you have to use a thermometer
Technically, you should. But sometimes we skip this step and simply test if the oil is hot by dropping in a small spoonful of batter. You want all sides to quickly be surrounded by small bubbles, and the batter should fluff up a bit. Test a battered zucchini as well before beginning to fry.
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