Description
Learn how to make Perfect Crispy French Fries with this detailed recipe inspired by Kenji López-Alt's method from The Food Lab. These fries stay crispy even after cooling, delivering the ultimate homemade fries experience using floury potatoes, vinegar blanching, and double frying in canola oil.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 kg floury potatoes (3 – 4 potatoes, e.g., Russet, Sebago, Maris Piper)
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1 litre canola or vegetable oil
Seasoning (choose one)
- Salt – table salt or sea salt flakes
- Shaker fries seasoning
- Rosemary salt
- Nori salt
Instructions
- Cut: Peel the potatoes and cut into 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick French fries using a serrated knife. Keep fries submerged in a bowl of cold water while cutting the remainder to prevent browning.
- Rinse: Transfer the cut fries to a colander and rinse under tap water for 15 to 20 seconds to remove surface starch.
- Simmer: Place fries in a large pot with 2 liters of cold tap water, 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low so the surface just ripples gently. Simmer for 10 minutes without vigorous bubbling. Carefully remove fries with a slotted spoon into a colander, avoiding tipping to prevent breakage.
- Dry 5 min: Spread fries in a single layer on two trays lined with tea towels. Leave to steam dry for 5 minutes.
- Prepare oil and batches: Pour oil to a 3 cm (1.2 inch) depth in a pot at least 10 cm (4 inches) deep ensuring sufficient headroom for bubbling. Separate fries into three equal batches.
- Fry #1: Heat oil to 205°C (400°F) over medium-high heat. Lower one-third of the first batch fries into hot oil, wait 10 seconds, then add another one-third, wait 10 seconds, then add the remaining fries. Fry for 50 seconds, moving occasionally. Remove fries with slotted spoon to paper towel-lined trays in a single layer; fries will be pale and floppy. Repeat for Batches 2 and 3, reheating oil to 205°C between batches.
- Cool 30 min: Let all fries cool for 30 minutes on trays.
- Fry #2: Heat oil again to 205°C (400°F). Fry half of the fries for 4 minutes, stirring twice until golden and crispy. Drain in a paper towel-lined bowl. Repeat with the remaining fries.
- Season & Serve: Immediately sprinkle fries with chosen seasoning or salt, toss gently to coat, and serve. Fries remain crispy even after cooling.
Notes
- Use floury/starchy potatoes such as Russet, Sebago, Maris Piper, or King Edward for the crispiest fries; waxy potatoes will produce soggier results.
- White distilled vinegar in the blanching water helps remove excess starch and prevents the fries from turning mushy.
- If using table salt instead of kosher salt, increase quantity to 2 teaspoons for blanching water.
- A serrated knife helps create a rougher surface for crispier fries but is not mandatory.
- Simmer fries with gentle ripples to avoid breakage and ensure even cooking.
- Use a pot with sufficient depth to safely fry with enough oil and headroom for bubbling.
- Adding fries gradually with 10-second pauses reduces excessive bubbling during the first fry.
- Season fries after frying, tasting before adding more salt as fries already contain some salt from blanching.
- For large batches, reheat earlier batches with a quick flash-fry at 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- After the first fry, cooled fries freeze well when spread on a tray. Freeze solid, then store in a container. Cook from frozen for 4 1/2 minutes when ready to eat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (about 150g)
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 500 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
