Do you love fries, but every time you make them at home, you just can’t get them as crispy and delicious as your favorite fast-food restaurant’s? Don’t panic! We’ve gathered the best tips for making crispy homemade fries. Test them out today!
How to Achieve Perfect Cooking for Homemade Fries?
Crispy Fries
Fries are loved worldwide for their unique taste, despite warnings about high calorie and fat content. It’s hard to resist indulging in a portion now and then! Well, if it’s just occasional, it’s not so bad. But especially when you’re preparing them, it would be foolish to spoil the enjoyment! To make your fries perfect – very tender inside and crispy outside, the following trick will amaze you.
Golden Rule: You should know that the best fries are those that have been cooked twice. In the first phase, they should be fried at a low temperature (half-cooked), then removed and placed on paper towels to absorb excess oil. After cooling, proceed with the second cooking phase: Dip your fries back into very hot oil to make them crispy.
Here’s the general preparation method:
First, clean and wash the potatoes.
Then, and this is an essential phase, you must cut them carefully. For a perfect cut, it’s best to use a mandoline or a slicer. If you don’t have one, cut with a sharp knife into medium-sized slices no thicker than one centimeter. Each slice is then cut into sticks.
Place the fries in a bowl of cold water. Leave them for 20 minutes to remove excess starch. Then take them out and pat them dry with a clean towel.
Then pour a generous layer of oil into the pan. Heat it up and add the potato sticks.
Leave them for about 5 minutes until the fries are golden brown. Don’t hesitate to add a few cloves of garlic, which gives them an even tastier flavor!
Take them out of the pan, place them on kitchen paper, and let them cool down slowly before putting them back into the very hot oil. A few minutes are enough. Watch them, and you’ll notice the well-measured gilding visually (be careful not to let them darken!). When finished, take them out and place them again on paper towels to remove excess oil. Your fries will be tender inside and crispy outside.
Which Oil for Crispy Fries?
Peanut oil or any other light vegetable oil is ideal for preparing the best homemade fries. It gives you the crispy crust you sometimes miss.
Note: Due to its high smoke point, peanut oil is generally preferred over olive oil.
Why Add Vinegar to Fries?
Pour White Vinegar
How do you get a plate of crispy fries without using a deep fryer? Then it’s important to choose high-quality ingredients. Note that the best frying potato varieties are those that tend to ripen later, like apples. It’s important that they contain little water, starch, and sugar. Otherwise, they tend to brown quickly and caramelize. Also, excess starch makes them soft because it absorbs a lot of oil. A solution to this problem? A secret ingredient: Vinegar. Its acidity delays the breakdown of pectin, preserving it during cooking. Pectin is a soluble fiber that helps keep you full, regulate fat absorption during digestion, and maintain good intestinal passage.
Here are the steps you need to follow to prepare your fries with vinegar:
Peel the potatoes and wash them in very cold water.
Cut the potatoes (as explained above). Remember, for crispy fries, it’s very important that the slices have a wavy shape when cut with a knife or mandoline.
Place the sticks in a bowl with cold water and three tablespoons of white vinegar.
Dry them and place them in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. This step removes excess starch from the potatoes and gives you a much smoother texture.
Take them out of the boiling water, rinse them under running cold water, and place them in a bowl of ice water. Before proceeding with the next step, the potatoes must be dried with absorbent paper towels.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat and gradually add the potatoes, following the cooking method described above. For a crispier result, it’s advisable to use peanut oil or sunflower oil.
