My Big Fat Cooking Blog: 017 - French Fries! (A Greasy Love Story)

Who here loves French Fries? McDonalds? Wendy's? If there’s one thing that we can agree on, is that French Fries are like the best thing that could ever happen in the world. I love french fries, I love it so much that I started to make one by myself, and said goodbye to those frozen stuff.

Great french fries only needs 2 things: good potato and double frying. What's double frying? That's when you fry a potato until its cooked but still limp, and fry it again until its crispy, golden, and delicious. This food will steal everybody's heart. Guaranteed!!

You will need:

2 large potato, cut into either thin or thick strips. I like mine think, crispy, and fluffy. Take into account that thin fries will cook very quick, making it easy to overcook! Remember, nobody likes crispy and burnt fries.

Large amount of cooking oil. Choose neutral flavored oil. Peanut oil worked best since it has high smoking point, but its not exactly cheap. I stick to palm oil.

Optional: seasonings of your choice. Now here's where you create your own touch. The sky is the limit. Go nuts on dry ingredients!

Here's how I season my fries: salt+garlic powder+paprika+pepper+parsley. Once you tasted this seasonings, say bye bye to McDonalds shaker fries.

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 - Wash your potatos thoroughly. Peel the skin if you want to. Then cut your fries into desirable size, soak it in cold water for at least 10 minutes to remove any excess starch. You will need to replace the water for about 2-3 times, until the water became crystal clear. Once soaked, rinse it under cold running water, and pat dry using kitchen towel. THIS IS MANDATORY. Hot Oil and Liquid are fire hazard! (No, I'm not joking)

Cut the whole potato in half

Of the halved potato, cut in in half again.

Cut to desired size

End product

Spread the potato evenly

Cover with cold water

Let soak for few minutes to remove starch, repeat as necessary

Prepare kitchen towel

Lay the potato evenly

Remove excess moisture

Dried and ready to go!

Step 2 - Heat your oil, medium heat. You know the oil is ready when you see bubbles forming from the bottom. To test it even further: drop a piece of potato. If it bubbles like crazy, you’re good to go

Blazing hot and ready to go!

Step 3 - Dunk your fries, few handfuls at a time. PLEASE RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO COOK IT ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Cooking everything at once will significantly drop the temperature and will ruin your end product! At this stage, the goal is to cook it, but not crisp it. Your fries will look lumpy when it’s done.

One at a time. BE CAREFUL.

It bubbles!

Nearly done

Step 4 - Pull it out of the oil into a colander or tray lined with kitchen towel. Get as much oil off the potato as possible. Now here's my hack: lay the potato evenly across a flat surface, and cool it off with a small fan. This way, the potato will drop its temperature faster that when it hits the oil one more time, it'll became 'shocked' from the heat and will turn crispy in return!

Remove excess oil as much as possible

Already done, still lumpy, ready for another frying

Step 5 - Now heat your oil (use the same pan, its fine!) With the highest heat you can ever have at home. Let it heat for around 3-5 minutes.

Step 6 - Once sizzling hot, drop the fries, handful at a time. Watch it as air bubbles escapes and leaves you with nothing but potato with crispy exterior and fluffy insides! Fry it for about 2-3 minutes or until it reaches your desired crispiness!