Cheesy Corn Scallion Fritters

A sweet-savory treat from Diana Yen's new cookbook Firepit Feast

As the weather swings from warm to cold and back again every couple of days (or even within the same day—yay spring), I’ve been having a lot of fun poring over Diana Yen’s upcoming cookbook, Firepit Feast, which is coming out on May 13th, and dreaming of all the things I’m going to make as soon as grilling season starts. Diana’s adorable book—it’s a great, small size (ideal for camping), and the cover is fabric!—is entirely devoted to live-fire cooking, and I can’t wait to make everything in it.

The book is divided into sections, each focused on a different way you can cook on a campfire, fire pit, or grill: There are chapters about cooking directly on the grill, using foil packets, cooking in a cast-iron skillet, making skewers, tucking food directly into the coals, using a Dutch oven, and making “pudgy pies” with a specially designed pudgy pie iron (which is kind of like a sandwich press you close up and set over the fire).

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My new book, SNACKING DINNERS, is out in the world!! If you’d like a signed book plate, feel free to message me in the app or respond to this email. And check out my book events page for upcoming talks, signings, and pop-ups in the Bay Area, New York, London, and more!

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Each chapter has a range of recipes, from snacks/appetizers to savory mains to sweets. Everything looks delicious: grilled stone fruit, tomatoes, and snap peas with burrata; smoky spatchcocked chicken with herby yogurt drizzle; ginger-lime pork skewers; bananas foster upside-down cake—I’m going to have to try them all this summer!

I decided to give myself a sneak peek at the recipes, grilling weather or not, and make cheesy corn scallion fritters as my first test of the book. It’s not quite corn season, of course, but I’ve found that frozen corn works well if I’m planning to cook the kernels anyway (and frozen vegetables often retain more of their nutrients than fresh ones anyway). The fritters—inspired by Korean cheese corn—are held together with both mozzarella and eggs, so they have both vegetables and protein in them, which makes them easy to turn into a snacking dinner. And because this comes from the cast-iron skillet section of the book, I can make them on the stove instead of a fire/grill until the weather warms up.

The recipe below is written as an appetizer for four people, but I’m obviously going to just enjoy it as dinner for two, with some greens and/or kimchi on the side.

Cheesy Corn Scallion Fritters

Taking inspiration from gooey Korean corn cheese, these fritters are loaded with sweet corn and stretchy mozzarella cheese. The key to making the best fritters is having just enough batter to hold everything together, allowing the main ingredients to shine. When you’re frying on cast iron over open flames, use a smaller amount of oil to keep things manageable and prevent splattering. After a few batches of frying, you’ll become a pro at skillfully dropping spoonfuls of batter into the sizzling skillet.

3 ears corn, shucked
½ cup (55 g) shredded low-moisture mozzarella
2 scallions, white and green parts chopped, plus more for garnish
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons fine-ground cornmeal
Neutral oil (such as canola or avocado oil), for frying

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Campfire or Grill [or equivalent heat on a stove]
10-inch (25 cm) cast-iron skillet

1. Stand a corncob in a large bowl and slice the kernels off, starting from halfway down the cob and rotating the cob to keep slicing. This helps keep the kernels from scattering. Flip the corncob over in the bowl and continue from the other end until all the kernels have been removed. Repeat with the remaining ears; you should have about 1½ cups (250 g) of kernels. Run the back of a butter knife down the cobs to release the “milk” from the cobs into the bowl.

2. Add the mozzarella, scallions, salt, sugar, and a few grinds of pepper to the bowl of corn, mixing to combine. Season with more salt and pepper as needed. Add the eggs, flour, and cornmeal, stirring to combine. The consistency should be chunky and wet, with very little liquid batter. Add more flour by the tablespoon if needed. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to cook. The batter can be made up to a day in advance.

3. Prepare a fire for medium heat [the fire should have glowing coals you can cook over, and you should be able to hold your hand 5” from your cooking surface for 4–5 seconds] and set a grate over it. [Alternatively, place a cast-iron skillet on the stove over medium-high heat, adjusting as needed to get the results described below.]

4. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in the cast-iron skillet, swirling to coat. Place onto the grate. Test by flicking a drop of water into the skillet: if you hear it sizzle, the skillet is ready. Using a tablespoon, add a few heaping tablespoons of batter (each almost the size of a golf ball) directly to the skillet, being careful not to crowd the pan, and gently press each mound with a spatula to flatten it into a disk. Fry until the bottoms are golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip and cook on the other side until golden and crispy, about 1 minute. Transfer the finished fritters to a paper towel-lined platter. Season with salt while hot.

5. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the skillet as needed. If your pan becomes too hot and starts smoking, take it off the heat to cool off for a few minutes before starting a new batch. Sprinkle the fritters with scallions to finish. Serve immediately.

Excerpted from Firepit Feast by Diana Yen (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Diana Yen and Dylan Gordon.

Lukas Volger’s sweet-spicy peanut butter dip—photo from his newsletter, recipe linked below

Other Snacks I’m Excited About

Substack (and the internet in general) is chock full of amazing snack ideas/recipes right now!

Farideh Sadeghin

recently posted a photo of a dip made from cottage cheese, horseradish, and garlic salt (with fresh veg plus pretzels and potato chips!) and

Lukas Volger

has an amazing-looking recipe for sweet-spicy peanut butter dip that I'm so excited about that I figured I’d link to it here. Can’t wait to make it this weekend!

The Spicy-Sweet Peanut Butter Dip I Can't Stop Making

Video of Live Chat!

So, I did a thing yesterday. It was a little nerve wracking but also actually a lot of fun. If you want to see me and and a couple other food/lifestyle writers cook from Snacking Dinners, offer strong opinions about chips, and talk about how we manage our workflows and our Substacks (and other fun nonsense), check out the link above. :)