I’m sometimes asked about fried potatoes and have to straddle the linguistic gap over the Atlantic. Whether you call them ‘chips’ or ‘fries’ is up to you. I call them delicious. Even more so if you branch out and use sweet potatoes in addition to their white cousins.
Let’s start with potato choice which is paramount but also pretty much decided by fry technicians that have come before you. Across the globe every spud has been tested in bubbling cauldrons of oil and the stock standard varieties win time and time again. Russet in North America or Maris Piper in the UK is the potato of choice for frying, hands down. Do other non-waxy sorts like Yukon Gold work? Sure. But they never seem to get quite as fluffy on the inside as those two starchy standbys.
Here’s where I want to switch it up a bit and add a lesser known twist in the fried potato world – sweet potatoes. They’ve popped up as a hipster french fry fad from time to time with mixed results. Honestly they’re as easy to make as regular fries if you compensate for the low starch and high sugar. Not the sickly sweet holiday casserole fare, they have a subtle sweetness that can be balanced even further with a good choice of dipping sauce. I’m not a fan of ketchup with them as it’s already pretty sweet on its own. Rather, I much prefer a lighter garlic and lemon laced approach partnered with them. Sour cream or plain yogurt are the perfect tart base to any number of sauce creations there.
There’s a tiny fish and chips shop locally that has embraced the sweet potato fry with full force on their menu and they were what brought the idea back to mind before a friend recently asked how to manage making them at home. Like all chip making, you want to employ a three-stage method. First fry at a lower temperature to cook the inside followed by a thorough cooling stage. Finish them just before serving with a higher heat quick fry to crisp the outside. You can even achieve decent results with baking in place of the second frying if that’s more convenient, namely you can “prep fry” them ahead of time and store them in the fridge or freezer awaiting a final crisping either in your fryer or oven at high heat.
Speaking of the fryer, I rarely deep fried things for years. The problem was the pot. I was lugging out my traditional 7-litre dutch oven for the task and while it worked beautifully, it was a huge pain. Not only in the oil handling before and after but the time it took to heat and cool between cycles. I finally caught on that unless I was cooking for a hoard of hungry longshoremen, I could use a smaller pot. Bingo pyjama, frying in a small 3-litre dutch oven is a dream. The oil recovers temperature more quickly and since I don’t really have many uses beyond fondue for the small pot elsewhere, I can just cover the cooled pot with cling film to make a seal, drop the lid on, and store it oil and all for later uses over the next several weeks. Of course I eventually have to change that cooking oil, especially if I decide to add some fish to my chips, but for potatoes alone I can get six or seven batches before the oil breaks down too far. I never hassle with trying to filter or drain used oil because that’s just a mess waiting to happen and decent cooking oil is cheap enough.
I’m only going to say this once. You MUST have an accurate thermometer to deep fry. I don’t care which brand or what design you get as long as it’s accurate. Frying is all about the correct temperature. Do it right and your food absorbs very little oil and comes out perfect. Do it wrong and you’ll have floppy, greasy fries. If you try this temperature blind, I’m not responsible for the results. Ditto on a decent LONG handled strainer or other implement for working with the oil. Trust me – oil and steam burns hurt like hell.
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Safety First:
Never plunk the fries directly into the hot oil with your hands. Use a long handled strainer and ease them into the oil in small batches.
Remember that if you…
A. Overload pot with too much oil, or
B. Drop in too many potatoes at once which will bubble up fiercely, or
C. Splash the hot oil onto a working burner…
… you’re going to have a fire. Flames and everything. While this can be pretty to watch and most people take a few seconds to process what’s happening, DON’T PANIC. Rather shut the heat off immediately if possible in a safe fashion. DO NOT try to put the fire out with water since that will make the oil bubble more with explosive results. Using a fire extinguisher* is best or some sort of non-combustible cover (e.g. a giant metal wok lid) to smother the flames should be your action of choice. Or just step way back and call for help. And probably a takeaway curry since you’ve ruined the fries.
It’s commonly quoted that a ridiculous percentage of house fires in the UK are started because of chip pan fires. In other words, if you decide you want chips after a late night at the pub, don’t make them yourself you drunk fools.
* You DO have an extinguisher
French Fries, Chips, Pomme Frites, or Whatever you call them in your neighbourhood
Rinsing the excess starch off white potatoes keeps them from sticking together in the fry and they still have plenty left to get crisp in the end. Since sweet potatoes have much less starch you can skip that step with them but do need to add a starch slurry to the outside before the final fry to get crisp results.
A desirable volume of potatoes, Russet, Maris Piper, or sweet varieties
Canola or peanut oil for frying, usually 1 – 2 litres depending on your pot *
Fine sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch if making sweet potato fries
* Don’t try olive oil, it can’t handle the heat. Same goes for most other exotic oils. If you see smoke, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Never fill your pot more than halfway full with oil or else you’ll have a boil over and subsequent inferno.
Begin by peeling and planking your potatoes into evenly cut thicknesses about 1cm (3/8″) wide. Next cut the planks by the same dimension to form fries. Uniformity helps them cook evenly. For white potatoes, place the cut fries into a bowl and run cold tap water in until the water becomes clear. Transfer them to a salad spinner to remove all of the excess water (This is important for safety!! DO NOT put wet fries into hot oil). Sweet potatoes can go into the fryer unrinsed.
Fill a 3-liter enamelled cast iron dutch oven with oil slightly less than half way and set to medium-high heat. Over time you will learn which setting equates which temperature for your pot, fill, and heat source combination. Aim for 315F for the first frying.
Working in batches and using a long handled strainer, lower a small handful of fries into the oil and cook until just soft in the middle, anywhere from 5-7 minutes depending on your equipment and cut. The oil temperature will drop significantly at first but the small pot will allow for quick temperature recovery.
Remove the softened fries to drain on a rack inverted over a sheet pan lined with newsprint which will wick away excess oil as they cool completely. The fries can be stored in the refrigerator up to a day or the freezer for up to a week at this point. DO NOT cheat on the cooling stage or you will have overcooked, mushy fries.
When ready to eat the ‘regular’ fries, reheat the oil to a hotter 365F. Working again in small batches and with a long handled strainer, cook the fries until crisp, anywhere from 4-6 minutes. If you’re having troubles getting a crisp texture, you’re probably adding too many potatoes at one time and the oil is having a hard time recovering to the higher temperature you need to get crisp results. Use fewer potatoes per batch and raise your heat setting by small increments. Remember that the cast iron pot holds a lot of heat itself so treat it like flying a hot-air balloon. Anticipate and adjust by small measures.
When you’re going to continue with a batch of sweet potato fries you have to follow the same routine but with a few extra tricks. The oil for the second fry needs to hover around 325F to avoid burning the extra sugars. This means that you’ll also have to employ a starch coating to get them crisp. Simply mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with 250 ml of cold water until dissolved to make a very thin slurry. Pass the cooled sweet potato fries through this mix right before you add them to the hot oil and cook until crisp, about 6-8 minutes. The extra minute or two will compensate for the lower temperature.
Remove the finished fries to drain on a rack or fresh kitchen paper briefly and dust them with sea salt while still very hot and oiled so it will ‘stick’ more readily. Park intermediate batches in a hot oven to keep warm and serve as soon as possible with ketchup or tartar sauce if you must. Or get creative and dust them with fresh ground peppercorn, an interesting spice mix, or finely shredded Parmesan. Go full Canadian and top them with *fresh* cheese curds and gravy if you’re in a poutine mood but don’t try that with sweet potatoes – I did and they were awful. Rather make a batch of lemon & garlic aioli in that case. Or you can cheat using the tart ‘sauce’ combination below.
Cheats Dipping Sauce for Sweet Potato Fries
This is barely a recipe but instead of ketchup or tartar sauce as is the trend oftentimes with sweet potato fries, I simply mix together one part of quality (full fat) sour cream and one part of my homemade Caesar salad dressing. It’s light, it’s tart, and it’s a perfect balance for the subtle sweetness of those orange beauties you just fried up. Plus it’s already in my fridge.
