Fry Cook
There’s a tight list of menu items I avoid making at home. Pho is one. I don’t need to be boiling, skimming, straining, and then simmering veal bones for two days. Better leave it to the boss line-granny at the pho restaurant down the street.
Fries are another. It requires a press (hand-cutting potatoes is ridiculous - Mac did this for an event once, and he still shudders from the memory). Crispiness requires five cooking stages: blanching, cooling, par-frying, cooling, and frying to order. A commercial fryer also has internal temperature regulation so you’re not standing there with a thermometer, fiddling with the heat.
Not to mention the cleanup, which is…undesireable. I’ll spare you the full details of a cautionary tale known as the Great Oil Leak of 2016. So many rags. So much flour to soak up the oil. So many oil-soaked flour clumps. There’s probably still residue behind the range at the restaurant.
But what the hell, sometimes it’s fun to fry stuff!
Use plenty of oil. No matter what, you need at least a quart, probably two. Don’t skimp, and don’t crowd the pan! Deep-frying is intended to be hot and fast, requiring an oil temperature around 350℉. The less oil, the more the temperature plummets when you drop cold ingredients into it. Your tempura will be soggy by the time it climbs back up.
Use a big pot. Big enough that there’s no chance of an overflow - displacement is real. Aim for no more than halfway full. A Dutch oven is a good choice. While we’re on the subject, never move a pot of hot oil. I’ve burned myself so many times. It’s why my hands look like Red Skull.
Save the oil for next time. Good news! It’s okay to use lots of oil because you can reuse it several times. After the oil is completely cool, strain it and put it right back in the plastic bottle it came in. Use a funnel (see the aforementioned cautionary tale). Store the oil in the freezer.
This week we’re serving beer-battered rockfish in crunchy chicory wraps with yogurt tartar sauce and lemon. Recipe drops on Friday. Frying can be a little risky, but it’s worth it sometimes because nothing will ever taste quite as good as deep-fried…well, anything. Just ask anyone at the Minnesota State Fair.
We’re glad you’re cooking with us.
Cheers,
Sten and Mac
Chef Snacks
Cooking Tip
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. I apply this mantra pretty broadly across my whole life, but it’s extra applicable when dealing with large quantities of hot oil. Make a plan. Choose your movements, touches, and tools. Be deliberate. Take it slow. I promise this will save you time in the end.
