Hot Water Cornbread

Ingredients

• 2 cups fine stone-ground white cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Before you cook

• Bring a kettle of water to a rolling boil.
• Melt the butter.
• Set a wire rack over a sheet pan beside the stove.
• Pour the oil into a heavy 12-inch skillet to a depth of about a half inch.

Steps

1. Whisk the cornmeal, salt, sugar and baking powder together in a heatproof bowl.
2. Pour one and a half cups of boiling water over the cornmeal while stirring fast with a wooden spoon.
3. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture forms a thick paste that mounds on the spoon.
4. Add boiling water a tablespoon at a time if the paste is too dry to hold a shape.
5. Cover the bowl and let it sit for five minutes.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until a pinch of the batter sizzles at once, about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter and flatten it between wet palms into a small oval patty.
8. Slide the patty into the hot oil and repeat until the pan holds four or five without crowding.
9. Fry for two to three minutes, until the underside is deep golden and lacy at the edges.
10. Flip each cake and fry the second side for another two minutes.
11. Drain the cakes on the wire rack and sprinkle them with salt.
12. Fry the remaining batter and serve the cakes hot with greens or fried fish.