Perfectly Crispy Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce

Ruby-red tomatoes may be the crown jewel of summer, but I say that fried green tomatoes are the season’s unsung hero. Turn stubbornly unripe green tomatoes into a crunchy Southern specialty.

You can make the ultimate fried green tomatoes by dipping in tangy buttermilk, coating in cornmeal, and then frying until golden. Once you taste them warm with a spicy remoulade sauce, you may never wait for tomatoes to ripen again.

• These fried green tomatoes are extra crispy. Instant flour and cornmeal are key to to a perfectly crisp coating.
• They’re the perfect appetizer. Serve this classic Southern appetizer with homemade tangy remoulade sauce.

• Green tomatoes: Use unripe large green tomatoes.
• Instant flour: Instant flour, such as Wondra, is the key to crunchy fried green tomatoes.
• Buttermilk: Use buttermilk in the wet mixture for the breading process. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own with two ingredients.
• Egg white: You’ll need one large egg white for the wet mixture.
• Hot sauce: A bit of hot sauce, such as Louisiana or Tabasco, adds some zing.
• Finely ground cornmeal: Finely ground cornmeal is combined with instant flour for the breading.

Fried green tomatoes are made with unripe green tomatoes. These tomatoes haven’t yet turned red so they have a firm texture and slightly citrusy flavor. Green tomatoes are different from husk-wrapped tomatillos or heirloom tomatoes, like Green Zebras, that remain green even when ripe.

Wondra, the brand name for instant flour developed in the 1960s. This instant flour is pre-cooked, dried, and finely ground, resulting in flour that easily dissolves — lump-free! — in both hot and cold liquids. The low protein content and fine, even texture gives fried foods a crisp crunch while absorbing less of the frying oil. Here, that also means a coating that won’t slip off the tomatoes.

Make this classic Southern side in three simple steps: slice, coat, fry.

1. Slice green tomatoes 1/4-inch thick. Use a serrated knife to slice 3 large green tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
2. Coat the tomato slices in breading. I use 3 metal pie pans because they’re shallow, wide, inexpensive, and easy to clean, but any wide, shallow dish will do. The key to breading the tomatoes (and not your fingers) is to designate one hand for dry ingredients and the other for wet. You can also use tongs or two forks to handle the tomatoes. If you substitute all-purpose flour for Wondra, let the breaded tomatoes rest for an extra 5 minutes before frying.
3. Fry the tomatoes. Test the oil temperature and timing by frying the scraps (the very top and bottom slices of the tomatoes) until golden brown and crisp. Once the oil is hot, continue frying, starting with the slices that were breaded first.

No serving of fried green tomatoes is complete without a dipping sauce. It’s traditionally served with remoulade, but feel free to make comeback sauce if you prefer. Serve the sauce on the side or spoon sauce onto the bottom of the serving platter and stack the cornmeal-crusted green tomatoes on top.

• Remoulade: A pale pink sauce consisting of mayonnaise, mustard, lemon, hot sauce, and seasonings that’s popular in French and Creole cuisines.
• Comeback sauce: Mississippi-born mayonnaise-based sauce with a milder, sweeter flavor from ketchup and chili sauce. It’s name is a not-so-subtle nod to the culture of Southern hospitality.

All-purpose flour: Substitute an equal amount of all-purpose flour for the instant flour. Rest the breaded tomatoes for an additional 5 minutes before frying.

• Make ahead: The remoulade sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Fried tomatoes are best eaten immediately after frying.
• Storage: Refrigerate leftover remoulade sauce in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

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