The story I recall about “French fries” is that they ended up called that because they are julienned. But perhaps it is because the Flemish, whose homeland straddles the French-Belgian border, popularized fries with a mayonnaise-like sauce as a street food.
The shape and size of the potato makes a difference to how they will turn out. Larger fries, like we made in the video for this recipe, won’t be as crispy-crunchy as fries with a smaller cross-section. They will still have a toasty exterior and fluffy interior, but they will be a bit more like a baked potato in stick form.
In order for them to come out properly, it is necessary for them to be cooked twice. We choose to fry them both times, once at a low temperature to cook them through, and once again at a higher temperature, to get the outsides toasty and a bit crispy, and make them puff back up right before eating. Alternatively, they could be steamed or baked for their first cooking. Once they’ve been cooked the first time, they can be stored, chilled, for a day or so, before they get fried a second time. In fact, some feel that in order to get excellent fries, the potatoes must become cold between cookings.
Makes enough for 4 people.
Equipment:
• deep pot and frying thermometer (or deep frier)
• wire basket (optional)
• metal tongs
• two trays lined with paper towels
Ingredients:
1+ ea russet potatoes
2-3 qt cooking oil canola, corn, sunflower, or similar
to taste salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Scrub the potatoes. Peel them if you must.
2. Cut the potatoes into fries, at whatever size you’d like. Traditional crispy fries with burgers are roughly 3/8” square.
3. Let the potato pieces soak in cold water for 30 min – overnight, depending on your schedule.
4. Prepare the fryer and heat to 325F or so. It should stay above 300F while the fries are cooking.
5. Drain and blot the potato batons dry on one of the paper towel-lined trays.
6. Add the non-dripping potato pieces to the oil in reasonable batches, cooking 5-7 minutes until the fries are pale golden and slightly soft. Larger pieces may need testing with a fork.
7. Place cooked pieces on a second tray, on paper towels. Allow all the cooked pieces to cool in a single layer.
8. At this stage, once-cooked fries may be frozen and stored long-term, or refrigerated overnight.
9. Refrigerated or frozen fries may be cooked directly in 375F – 400F oil, for about 5 minutes but perhaps more if they’re frozen to start with.
10. Twice-cooked fries should be drained on paper towel, and seasoned with salt and (optionally) black pepper.
Music: