The Family Fry Guy
Last Saturday was National Fry Day, and I was lucky enough to spend it with my brother Lawrence, who happens to be our family Fry Guy. While this post may be a week overdue for that celebration, fries are always a good idea and he graciously shared his secrets with me while we were there.
My brother has spent years perfecting Pommes Frites at home, a delicious ode to the potato. They are perfectly cooked and tender on the inside and crispy and browned on the outside. When Lawrence lived here in town, we were lucky enough to have them at least a couple of times a year. Now that he and his family have moved to South Carolina, it’s a special treat when we are able to have them.
There are many steps to perfect fries at home, but it can be done with the right equipment. Lawrence starts with a big bag of Russet potatoes (5-7 lbs.), scrubbed clean and cut. My brother uses a French fry cutter for evenly cut potato sticks. When cutting that many potatoes, a cutter is necessary. You can find a fry cutter on Amazon or at a kitchen supply store.
Once the potatoes are cut into fries, they need to soak in a big bowl for 6 hours to overnight. This removes a lot of the starch from the potatoes, so they will be crispy and not soggy.
After their long soak, Lawrence lays the potatoes out flat on paper towels, in a nice even layer. Next, he blots them again to remove even more starch and extra moisture.
Lawrence uses an electric T-Fal kitchen fryer, with a basket and oil filtration system. To start, he heats peanut oil to 350ยบ. Other oils can be used, but peanut oil is great for French fries because it has a high smoke point (or the point at which oil starts to burn and smoke), and it has a neutral flavor.
The magic happens when Lawrence fries the potatoes twice. The first fry gets the insides cooked enough to be tender but does not overcook the outside. The second fry gets them delightfully brown and crispy.
He fries all the potatoes once, in small batches, until they are all cooked on the inside, but just starting to brown on the outside.
As each small batch is done frying for the first time, Lawrence lays them out to cool, paying attention to the order, so the coolest ones can be fried first the second time around. They need to be completely cooled to room temperature before the second fry, so that they do not get soggy.
The fryer gets turned up to the highest heat for the second fry. Fry each batch again until they are golden brown and crispy.
As each small batch comes out, Lawrence lays them out on paper towels again to drain off excess oil. While still warm, he tosses the fries in a bowl with course kosher salt, or a mix of his secret seasonings. His secret blend is made from Mrs. Dash seasonings, generally a mix of the onion and herb blend, the garlic and herb blend and Mrs. Dash Original. Mix to taste and generously toss with warm fries.
The finishing touch is Lawrence’s homemade dipping sauces which are made by mixing Duke’s Mayonnaise with different flavors. This time, we had garlic mayo using minced garlic, curry mayo, and Korean Chili Powder mayo. Mix each to taste. Often we also have Wasabi mayo or whatever strikes our fancy. Ketchup is not invited to this fry party.
For a fun change, we also crumbled some blue cheese on top of some of the warm fries. As it melted, it mingled quite nicely with the salty fries, and complimented the garlic mayonnaise.
There is a bit of finesse to it, an art to knowing when the fries are done, when they will be perfectly cooked, but it is well worth the effort to find what works for you. If you master them, I can guarantee you will become the family favorite – or at least your fries will.
