Some days, we are not exactly healthy. This was one of those days. We decided to have Belgian frites. 🙂
Making perfectly crispy Belgian frites is not hard. Just need to follow a few key steps. The three important things to remember are– potatoes need to be washed to remove excess starch, patted down till they are dry to the touch and most importantly double-fried.
Ingredients/Tools:
2 large potatoes (Russet potatoes work best)
1L vegetable oil
2t dried parsley (we used herbs de Provence) [rml_read_more]
2t sea salt
oven thermometer (optional)
Wash, peel and cut potatoes into thin strips. The don’t cut them thinner than 1/4″ square. Next, wash the strips to remove the starch. When you first start to wash them, it will look like this-
Discard the water one or twice and the water should now run clear like so-
Make sure to pat the strips dry with a paper towel till they are dry to the touch. This is important because it will reduce oil spattering when you fry them.
Heat vegetable oil in a suitable container. If you have a thermometer, this is the time to use it to watch the temperature. Once the oil has reached 320F (160C), add the strips a handful at a time. Do not add all of them together. Finish each handful and pull the fries out on a paper towel before proceeding with the next handful.
For those without a thermometer, make sure that the oil is hot enough that you can see small swirls in it but not so hot that the first strip rises to the top within seconds. It should take almost a minute to rise to the top.
Once all the fries are done. Wait for 20 mintues at least. If you want, this is a good time to keep portions away for future enjoyment. 🙂
Once 20 minutes have passed, reheat the oil at a higher temperature of 375F (190C). This time, add two handfulls at a time (since there is less water content now it will not cool the oil down fast. Once each batch is done, spread them on a paper towel and spread them out. Below you can see my first batch on to one side and the second batch spread out.
Last part- enjoy with some aoil (recipe will be coming soon) and your fav. Belgian beer. 🙂
