How to cook delicious French fries at home. Why order this dish from a restaurant or fast food outlet when you can cook it yourself. It's pretty simple. You will need a little skill and all the necessary products.
Why are these potatoes so popular? This is a great addition to a variety of dishes. This side dish is nutritious, tasty, and if the fries are homemade, it’s also healthy.
Potatoes are one of the best delicacies
There is no need to spend a long time preparing this dish, especially if you have deep fryer on hand. This dish should only be eaten hot. If it cools down, even the reheated one will not become so tasty.
Homemade French fries, the photo of which we presented, look very appetizing. She is a wonderful decoration for any table, be it a birthday or New Year's celebration. These potatoes are prepared just before serving.
Potatoes prepared in any way cannot be called a dietary product. But if you do it yourself, you can reduce at least the amount of carcinogens that are formed as a result of frying. Indeed, in most catering establishments they do not even think about changing frying oil in a timely manner.
Potatoes are not a completely harmful product. Those who are on a diet should avoid it, since this vegetable contains a large number of calories. Other people can get a whole range of vitamins and nutrients from the product. Among them:
- Potassium.
- Iron.
- Magnesium.
- B vitamins.
- Ascorbic acid.
During heat treatment, the amount of useful substances in potatoes tends to zero, but some remain. To create the most delicious and healthy French fries, you should choose only fresh vegetables. Having been previously frozen, it will not be as tasty. In addition, when freezing, a number of chemicals are often used that are not very beneficial for the human body. To avoid the appearance of carcinogens, when cooking, you need to take into account that the oil must be changed. And it’s worth remembering that French fries are a delicacy. You don't need to eat it often.
Deep frying
If you think about how to cook French fries at home, it’s worth remembering deep frying. Potatoes need to be washed, peeled and cut into strips. If there is no special device, this is done manually.
It is better to take the vegetable as large as possible, with the correct oval shape. These potatoes are easier to cut. It is advisable that there are no eyes. The cutting occurs first into plates, then they turn into strips approximately 1 cm wide. You must try to make the pieces the same size so that the frying takes place equally.
To release the starch from the potato, which gives the product calories, it should be placed in cool water for half an hour. This manipulation prevents the potatoes from crumbling in the end. To remove moisture after soaking, place the vegetable on a waffle towel and dry it a little.
Afterwards you need to salt the raw materials for fries and add them to the oil. It is preheated in a deep fryer. Afterwards, you just have to make sure that the product doesn’t burn.
A few words about oil. The best option is vegetable oil. Best suited:
- Sunflower.
- Corn.
- Olive.
- Cotton.
- Garlic.
You need to change it after a couple of servings of fried potatoes. Do not leave the oil until the next time you make fries. Next time you need to use a new one. The volume of oil in the deep fryer should be 4-5 times more than potatoes. Water should not get into the oil, otherwise sparkling splashes will appear.
In a deep fryer, frying is supposed to be done in a special colander. But after cooking, it is better to transfer a portion of fries to another colander and place a saucepan under it to allow the oil to drain. Later, you need to put the product on dry napkins and try to blot the fries as best as possible so that not even a drop of greasy remains.
How to make French fries at home:
- 10 potatoes.
- Refined oil - 300 ml.
- Salt.
- All other manipulations are described above.
If you don't have a deep fryer
Making French fries without an air fryer is also very easy. You will need a frying pan with high sides or a flat, wide saucepan. Oil is poured into the vessel. It needs to be heated to a temperature of 180°C. How to determine by eye? The oil should boil, but not sizzle or splash. Moderate heat brings the oil to the desired state. Place the prepared potatoes in a slotted spoon and lower them into boiling oil.
The easiest way to cook French fries is in a frying pan. You need to choose a vessel of this type with a thick bottom and small in volume so as not to waste a lot of oil. Accordingly, do not place massive portions of potatoes in order to be able to ensure uniform roasting.
How do you know when fries are ready? It will brown and a golden crust will form on top. There is a recipe for homemade French fries using a minimal amount of oil. It will be needed no more than for regular frying potatoes. But you only need to make 1 small portion at a time. You need to take 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
It is important to place the pan on the highest heat and pour in all 5 tablespoons of oil. After it heats up, you should place some prepared potatoes on it and fry them evenly on all sides. Afterwards, the finished fries should be placed on paper napkins to remove excess oil. Everything will take no more than half an hour. This way, French fries can be cooked in small batches using a new addition of oil in small quantities each time.
Cooking fries in the oven
Making French fries at home in the oven is just as easy. It turns out to be a very low-fat option. No additives are required except salt. You don't even need to use vegetable oil. But these are natural ingredients. These potatoes will be a particularly tasty side dish for meat or fish dishes. Some housewives suggest cooking French fries in the oven with the addition of additional ingredients. Among them:
- Egg.
- Sauces.
- Tomato.
Potatoes must be prepared in the same way as for deep frying. Next, take only the whites from a couple of eggs. In a large bowl, beat them very well with salt and, if the hostess likes it spicy, then with pepper. Add the spices you like most, but little by little. Afterwards, prepared potato blocks are placed in the whipped egg whites and rolled well. Each straw should be covered with this improvised sauce.
Next, preheat the oven to 200°C. A dry, clean baking tray should be lined with special baking paper. Most often it is parchment. A silicone baking mat will also work. It is worth placing the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet so that the bars are at a short distance from each other. Bake for no more than 7 minutes. Afterwards, you need to carefully remove the mat or paper and continue baking the potatoes on the baking sheet. This is necessary in order for a beautiful, golden brown crust to form. It is important to constantly monitor the product. As soon as the product is browned, you can remove it.
After the fries, you should place them beautifully on plates, pour over ketchup, add other sauces, and sprinkle with cheese.
Secrets
Before cooking, soak the potato bars in very cold water. It is advisable to put pieces of ice there. Be sure to wipe the raw materials dry. The drier the straw is, the more confident the housewife can be that the oil will not shoot or sizzle.
Another secret: it is advisable to fry the fries twice. The first time in not very boiling oil, one might even say slightly heated for 7-8 minutes, the second time in boiling oil, but for a couple of minutes.
The first fryer should be heated to approximately 160°C, the second - to 200°C. It is advisable to prepare small portions so that the bars do not stick together. After each frying from the oil, the potatoes should be patted very well with paper towels. Before the second frying, half-cooked raw materials should be allowed to cool for 15 minutes.
Important! Some housewives salt the fries after frying. But if you do this in advance, the potatoes will be better saturated with spices and salt. It tastes better this way.
The larger the bars, the longer the potatoes take to fry. It’s good if all the straws are cut equally. Then it will turn out both tasty and beautiful. It is advisable not to use unrefined oil when frying. It can produce more carcinogens. In addition, unrefined oil will add an unusual and not very pleasant smell to the product.
So, french fries are easy to prepare at home. This will take no more than half an hour. Don't skimp on oil. It is important to moderately salt the raw materials before cooking. It is advisable to soak the potatoes in ice water, dry them, and after frying, carefully remove excess oil. This procedure is important to ensure that as few harmful substances remain in the dish as possible. Indeed, in addition to being high in calories, potatoes fried in oil contain a certain amount of carcinogens.
How to make French fries at home
Making French fries at home is not at all difficult, as it might seem at first. Any housewife can prepare such a dish in her kitchen. You don’t need a lot of ingredients or time to prepare. French fries turn out very tasty, and most importantly, they are not harmful to your health, which is the most important thing.
Ingredients for cooking:
Potatoes - 7 pcs.;
Vegetable oil - 180 ml;
Salt - to taste;
Seasoning for potatoes - to taste and desire
Recipe for making French fries at home with photo:
Peel the potatoes, rinse under running water, and then cut into cubes. A special attachment will help you with this, through which potatoes of the desired shape can be pressed quite easily. If the potatoes are not very hard, then the cubes may turn out to be slightly curved. Fortunately, this does not affect the taste in any way.
You need to fry the potatoes in a frying pan with high sides, or in a small saucepan. I prefer the second option, since in this case you will need less vegetable oil.
Place the potatoes in a bag, add salt and seasoning to taste (optional without seasoning). Tie the bag and shake the contents of the bag well until everything is mixed.
We put the saucepan with oil on high heat, and when the oil boils, reduce the heat just a little so that it is slightly less than maximum. After that, throw some potatoes into hot oil and fry them until golden brown on all sides. The potatoes that we send to fry must be dry so that there is no splashing of oil. To prevent the fries from sticking to the bottom, you need to stir them once during the frying process.
Remove the finished French fries from the oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess fat. And then we transfer it to a dish and serve it to the table.
Home-cooked French fries are served, preferably with sauce. It can be any homemade sauce, or even ketchup. Bon appetit!
