Fresh Fries

Perfectly crisp on the outside, tender and rich on the inside

There is nothing better than fresh-cut, perfectly crisp fries. Something that seems so simple, however, is rarely done right. AND it is almost impossible to get fresh-cut fries at a restaurant these days - mainly because frozen fries are “good enough” and the labor to produce fresh-cut fries is astronomical. In addition, many restaurants that cook their fries fresh, still can’t nail the formula (Five Guys, In n Out, cough cough). So what’s stopping people from doing this at home for a fraction of the cost and not much time? FEAR. It seems daunting to master the fry. Restaurants have high-tech fryers and big machines to cut and store fries, how can this be done in a home kitchen? Easily.

The secret to the perfect fry (much of this science has been borrowed from McDonald’s, America’s Test Kitchen and Serious Eats) is as follows:

Soak and rinse your cut potatoes first to remove the exterior starch. The starch is the sugar that browns on the fry. Too much on the outside and the fry will burn, or deeply brown (which is bitter), before the inside can cook. Hence the rinse stage.

Blanch (par cook) your fries in water with a touch of acid. The water cooks the fry AND releases more of that starch. The acid prevents the pectin from breaking down and thus leaves the fry intact and ready for a final cook. This is the quintessential step.

Freeze your fries after blanching. Freezing the fries creates a crispy exterior and a soft interior. The ice crystals break down the inside of the potato which allows it to cook/steam quicker during the fry process - releasing moisture quicker. This is important because too much moisture leads to a “gummier” bite, the starch and moisture just mix like a dough as opposed to evaporating. As the ice quickly evaporates the exterior of the fry also gets that beautiful and crisp exterior.

Rest your hot fries on paper towels to remove the excess grease and season while they are hot. You don’t want to allow the fries to crowd atop one another as they are pulled from the pot as they will start to steam, reducing the crispiness. Also, you want to season them while they are blazingly hot so that the seasoning sticks to the fries and absorbs into the potato.

Use Beef Tallow or Avocado Oil to finish your fries. The oil is an essential ingredient when cooking fries. I don’t love seed oils as the flavor is bitter and acrid to me and offers nothing for the finished product (health aspects aside). In the restaurant, we use beef tallow which produces an incredibly rich and flavorful fry but that’s also hard to find for the home cook. When cooking fries at home I opt for Avocado oil. It has a high smoke point and a slightly fruitier flavor than most olive oils which lends itself well to the natural “sweetness” of a starchy potato.

Ingredients:

3-4 large russet potatoes

3 quarts of avocado oil (you can reuse this multiple times)

1/4 cup white vinegar

For the fry seasoning (optional):

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

4 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

5 tablespoons kosher or sea salt

1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper

Steps:

1. Cut your potatoes and soak in water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes, place in a pot, cover with water by 1 inch and add your vinegar. Bring the potatoes up to a boil, turn off the heat, and strain the potatoes.

3. Line the potatoes on a sheet pan and place them in the freezer.

4. Once the potatoes are frozen, bring your oil up to 375F in a large pot or Dutch oven. Test the heat by dropping a single fry in the oil, it should immediately bubble and fry vigorously.

5. Fry until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Do this in batches, you don’t want the temp of the oil to drop too much when you add the fries. Start with a small amount for the first batch to get a feel.

6. Pull the fries out with tongs or a slotted spoon and strain on paper towels. Season immediately in a bowl.