Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Best Homemade Potato Chips Ever! || No More Soggy Crisps || The Ultimate Chip Guide





If you have ever attempted making potato chips youll know that it is one of the easiest fried foods to get wrong. 

One mis-step could ruin the entire mission. 

The wrong cut?

The wrong process?

The wrong oil?

Even the wrong kinda potato!

There are many reasons why you should just say screw it and buy a bag of chips, but one reason why you should not:

No store bought chips will taste as good as homemade! 
FACT.

Luckily you have me to help you with this easy to follow pictorial guide showing

HOW TO GET THE PERFECT POTATO CHIP EVERYTIME!


I perfected this recipe during my university days and I haven't looked back. 

I made this particular batch on a weekday afternoon for a beloved guest and would you believe me if I tell you it took me only about 20 minutes?

The most difficult part is peeling the potatoes. 

Yup.

Let's begin!

Here's what you need:

About 10 medium sized potatoes (peeled) make sure theyre similar in size. 
A kettle of hot boiling water (1.5L)
Oil to deep fry
Any Seasoning of your choice.

Thats it!


CRUCIAL STEP #1 - Slicing


Slice the potatoes into thin vertical slices.

Unless youve got Iron chef level precision, don't use a knife!

Its impossible to get equal thickness with a knife. 

Use a madoline slicer (V slicer), like I have up there.

Haven't got one? You can use the side of a grater or even a potato peeler, though the chips might be too thin.



I used the thinnest attachment on my mandoline which gave me chips with 1 - 1.5mm thickness.

Transfer the slices into a large bowl.


Pour the kettle of boiling water over the slices and make sure the chips are completely submerged

Use all the water!


Use a slotted spoon to swirl the water carefully, making sure the slices are not clumped together.

We want every part of every chip to be exposed to the hot water


After abot 10 minutes or when the water gets cool enough for your hands, strain it out with a colander

You'll notice instantly that the water is a little thick and sticky. 

That's the potato starch. Removing the starch yields a crispy batch of chips with no sogginess at all!


Rinse the chips under a running tap.

Go in with your hands to separate the slices and ensure there is absolutely no stickiness left on the chips. 

Then inspect the slices


Notice any difference between these chips?

Of course, you do! You're a smart cook!

The chip on the left looks thicker and opaque while the right looks thin and translucent.

Why?

The left is fresh cut chips while the right is after the hot water bath.

At this point, you want all your chips to look like the right, which they should if you soaked them correctly.

If you fry your chips fresh cut, the starch will be released and you will have very soggy and oily chips.

Starch levels vary between species of potatoes, so some might need less time while other might need more time in the water bath

 Just make sure you don't leave them in hot water for too long or elSe they'll break apart.

Leave the chips in a colander for the water to drain before frying.


If youre in a hurry (as I was), you can spread out ppaper towels


And lay out the chips one by one to absorb all the excess moisture.


Use another paper towel to dab off the top surfaces and youre ready to fry.


Heat your oil pan on high heat then return to medium for frying

Use fresh oil or newish oil that has only been used for potatoes. Fresh is better.

Test the oil. Its ready when a chip dropped in spreads flat open immediately. 

That up there isn't.


Proceed to place your chips into the oil making sure the pan isnt overcrowded and chips don't overlap 


Turn constantly, making sure all the faces of the chips spend time in the oil.


Almost done.

You'll notice the chips beginning to curl around the edges when they're almost done.


Keep checking constantly and returning them if necessary.

The chips are done when the oil stops releasing air bubbles.

It takes about 3-5 minutes to fry each batch and you have to make sure the oil is hot enough before starting another batch. 

Check out this photo below...


See the side of this chip looks curled and crisp , but the middle part? You can see its still translucent and bendy.

My hands also look oily, right?


This chip is not ready. 

A cooked chip cannot hold onto oil like this, even when its freshly out of oil.

It needs another minute or two in the hot oil.

Your chip is cooked when it is golden brown and opaque from the edge to the middle

Like this!


Oh my goodness! This is what love is.

Light

Crispy

Golden brown.


Leave the chips to drain and cool off on a paper lined tray or airy basket.

Airy is the keyword.

As the chip cools it gets crispier and crispier.

Use this time to make your seasoning.



In a small mortar, I combined:

Salt
Blackpepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Paprika
1/2 a maggi cube

And pulverized them even more to make a very fine powder.

The finer the powder, the more flavour clings on to the chips.


Here's what I ended up with. 


I sprinkled it onto the chips a little at a time.


A little goes a long way and I ended up using less than half of the spice mix.


That's it! You're done!

I served mine as a side to go with Jamaican jerk kebabs and pickles.

My guest loved it very very much and when she asked 'Where did you buy these chips from? They're amazing!'

I couldn't hep but feel proud of my little old self for coming up with this last minute treat.

These would go amazing with a nice cream cheese dip, salsa, gucamole or even sweet chilli. The possibilities are endless. 



I gave half to our guest, ate a handful, gave baby R another handful and kept the rest for the husband. 

Can you believe this little angel after finishing her portion went and fished out her dad's portion from where I hid it and finished his too! 

All he got were broken chips and crumbs to taste and when she saw the crumbs she went after them too. 

Even after licking the plate she followed me to the kitchen asking for more!

Can't say I blame her, these chips are absolutely delish!



Give them a try and let me know how it goes.

Trust me, you'll never look at store bought chips the same way again.

That's it guys!

Did you enjoy this recipe?

Do you also make your own chips?

Ever had trouble frying your own chips?

Let me know in the comments below!

Take care!

Lots of crispy love,

Ummi

x o x o









11 comments:

  1. There is something about the way you arrange your pictures and give your instructions. You make me want to get to the kitchen right away. Thanks for the well explained recipe!
    www.writeitloud.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Deola! AWW, Thank you so much, im glad you appreciate the photos! Makes it worth doing. Thank you for dropping by too. Youre very welcome.

      Delete
  2. Totally agree with @deolascope and i know its not easy to pause and take a picture at every stage. You are making me wanna come off my holiday diet asap and make these but i shall resist. I'll definitely give it a try, will it work the same with sweet potatoes? those are my fave and Nkoyo has made me love them as crisps. Thanks for the recipe.
    Happy Birthday in arrears/advance! I recall u said it was this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww! My readers are the sweetest people on the internet, #fact! Thank you for the appreciation.

      IT works with sweet potatoes too! and it greatly reduces the cooking time for sweet potatoes. Let me know when you try it.

      I love Nkoyo's sweet potato chips too! I always fill my tummy before my order arrives.

      My birthday was yesterday and it was low key and awesome! Going to be celebrating all week long, so i may need the debts on this your holiday diet. Lol.

      Hope you've been great :)

      Delete
    2. I've been good. Glad u enjoyed ur birthday and thank God for the gift of life. Lol @celebrating all week, please enjoy jare. I gat u on the holiday diet ;)
      I'll definitely let u know how it goes with the sweet potatoes. :D

      Delete
    3. Finally tried it with both Sweet and Irish potatoes, It was a huge success and the large bowl i made dint last 3 days. Initially my oil was too hot and it burnt then i remembered your comment about lesser cooking time for sweet potatoes and that sorted it out. I'll definitely make more in the future. Thanks again for the recipe.

      Delete
  3. Agree with previous comments... definitely love the attention to details, would most definitely try and duplicate this recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alero! Please let me know when you do...Would love to see photos.

      Delete
  4. So that's how it's done! Ummi you've done it again. Thanks for sharing this tip. I can't wait to try it/show off when I get back home. One can't blame Baby R, there's an unexplainable goodness to chips. Happy Birthday in arrears dear.




    Whenever you can, pls check out my blog
    https://www.lilyofnigeria.com.ng

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice





    Dermessence has most essential nutrients that this formula has and that act directly and indirectly in combating again signs from the inside out. for more information please visit http://www.newfitnessbooster.com/dermessence/

    ReplyDelete