You don’t need to be Karlos Arguiñano, Ferran Adrià or René Redzepi – God save him and may he forget where – to fry some potatoes. Anyone can cut a few, pass them through hot oil and add salt, but the quality of the result will depend on how those simple steps were taken. There are golden, crispy potatoes with the perfect amount of fat and salt. And there are also soggy, greasy, slightly overcooked or somewhat raw potatoes, because certain errors were made in the process.
After analyzing the possible failures in the preparation of gazpacho, a potato omelet or a sponge cake, El Comidista’s error detection team has identified the most common mistakes in cooking this basic accompaniment. If you don’t want to fall into them, and you also want to learn a foolproof technique to get impeccable French fries, watch the video above.
Ingredients
- Potatoes (sour or Monalisa variety)
- Mild olive oil or sunflower oil
- Fine salt
Instructions
Peel the potatoes if desired. If not, wash them very well.
Cut them to a very similar size so that cooking is uniform (approximately one centimeter thick).
Put the potatoes in a bowl and rinse them in cold water. Keep changing it until it looks transparent.
Dry the potatoes with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Heat plenty of oil in a thick-bottomed frying pan or shallow pot over medium heat. When hot but not smoking, fry the potatoes in batches without crowding them for four or five minutes, until they are cooked through but very lightly browned on the outside.
Remove them to a plate or tray covered with kitchen paper and let them cool (once cold, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer to fry later).
Reheat the oil over high heat. Fry the potatoes in batches until golden.
Remove them to a large bowl, well drained, and salt immediately. Shake the bowl so that the salt is well distributed and serve.
If you have questions or complaints about our recipes, write to us at elcomidista@gmail.com. You can also follow El Comidista on Youtube.