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Dish · From Bladwijzer

Ash keys in batter

Name: Ash keys in batter
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings, as a nibble
Ingredients: 100 g young, green ash keys (2–3 bunches); 100 g plain flour; 1 tablespoon cornflour; 1 pinch of salt; 100 ml ice-cold sparkling water; ± 500 ml sunflower oil for deep-frying; flaky sea salt and 1 lemon, to serve

Updated on 9 October 2026

Makes: 4 servings, as a nibble
Time: 30 min
From: Ash

Ingredients

100 g young, green ash keys (2–3 bunches)
100 g plain flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 pinch of salt
100 ml ice-cold sparkling water
± 500 ml sunflower oil for deep-frying
flaky sea salt and 1 lemon, to serve

Method

In June–July, pick the young, still entirely green and tender keys of an ash you can identify with certainty. Strip them from the stalk, rinse briefly and pat dry. Chew one: it must still be soft, not hard or woody.
Boil the keys for 2 minutes in boiling salted water, rinse them cold and pat them thoroughly dry.
Mix the flour, cornflour and salt and quickly stir in the ice-cold sparkling water. The batter may stay lumpy.
Heat the oil to 180 °C in a deep pan that is no more than a third full. Never leave hot oil unattended and never put out an oil fire with water: put a lid on the pan.
Dip small batches of keys in the batter and fry them for 1–2 minutes until pale gold. Drain on kitchen paper.
Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, squeeze a little lemon over and eat straight away as a nibble with drinks.

Storing: Eat them straight away: cold, they go soft.