Which Chips (or Fries) Are the Best?

[trappedslider]

Tomatoes randomly mated with another plant 9 million years ago. The result? Potatoes.

Researchers say they have finally uncovered the mysterious origins of one of our favorite carbs: the humble potato.

www.livescience.com

 

[Zardnaar]

A rare few fish and chip shops here still use beef tallow.

Crinkle cuts absorb more oil or fat.

One cafe here fries hippy food in same deep fryer tgey cook chips in. They make really nice fries.

One of the cheapest place here is is in rural NZ. Apparently they still sold chips recently at $1 (0.60 usd) a scoop which is 90s prices or cheapest places early 2000's.

They grow their own potatoes, peel and cut them in a machine. Think they use beef tallow from another farm.

Frying fish I
prefer beef tallow probably oil for the chips.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One of my oddest periods in my fry-eating life was during my aforementioned college years.

After my freshman year, they reopened all the dining facilities and fired the people in charge of food service, bringing in people who knew how to cook actual recipes with actual ingredients.

But there remained one oddity: the grill in the student union used some kind of combination of potatoes & cooking oil in their deep fryers that resulted in perfectly cooked potatoes that had no surface moisture whatsoever. While this doesn’t sound bad initially, the reality was somewhat different.

With no surface moisture, the fries were basically immune to seasoning. At the time, all I wanted on my fries was salt, or maybe something like Tony Chachere’s on an exotic night.

But dry seasoning simply bounced off of these fries. You could wear your arm out shaking salt on them, and you’d wind up with salt on and around the plate, and unseasoned fries in your mouth.

So I had to rethink dipping my fries again. I hadn’t really used ketchup in YEARS, and the other condiments available were mustard, A1, Heinz 57, mayo, Tabasco, a few salad dressing options, and soy sauce (they sold mini-spring rolls).

After experimentation with a variety of combinations, I hit on what became my Fry Dipping Sauce:

50% Yellow Mustard
50% A1 steak sauce
Add Tabasco & black pepper to taste.
Mix well.

It’s foolproof and pretty versatile. The ingredients are pretty common in American burger joints, but not universal. Subbing in different mustards, steak sauces or hot sauces can be done, with generally good results. So far, though, this is my favorite incarnation.

I still default to simple dry seasoning most of the time, but this and a few other options are always a possibility:

Chili cheese fries, of course.
Lemon juice.
Malt vinegar is something the UK definitely got right.
Honey & black pepper is a winner.
Toum rules.
Vanilla shake dipping is a nifty changeup.

 

[payn]

One of my oddest periods in my fry-eating life was during my aforementioned college years.

After my freshman year, they reopened all the dining facilities and fired the people in charge of food service, bringing in people who knew how to cook actual recipes with actual ingredients.

But there remained one oddity: the grill in the student union used some kind of combination of potatoes & cooking oil in their deep fryers that resulted in perfectly cooked potatoes that had no surface moisture whatsoever. While this doesn’t sound bad initially, the reality was somewhat different.

With no surface moisture, the fries were basically immune to seasoning. At the time, all I wanted on my fries was salt, or maybe something like Tony Chachere’s on an exotic night.

But dry seasoning simply bounced off of these fries. You could wear your arm out shaking salt on them, and you’d wind up with salt on and around the plate, and unseasoned fries in your mouth.

So I had to rethink dipping my fries again. I hadn’t really used ketchup in YEARS, and the other condiments available were mustard, A1, Heinz 57, mayo, Tabasco, a few salad dressing options, and soy sauce (they sold mini-spring rolls).

After experimentation with a variety of combinations, I hit on what became my Fry Dipping Sauce:

50% Yellow Mustard
50% A1 steak sauce
Add Tabasco & black pepper to taste.
Mix well.

It’s foolproof and pretty versatile. The ingredients are pretty common in American burger joints, but not universal. Subbing in different mustards, steak sauces or hot sauces can be done, with generally good results. So far, though, this is my favorite incarnation.

I still default to simple dry seasoning most of the time, but this and a few other options are always a possibility:

Chili cheese fries, of course.
Lemon juice.
Malt vinegar is something the UK definitely got right.
Honey & black pepper is a winner.
Toum rules.
Vanilla shake dipping is a nifty changeup.

Efforts worth taking to not use ketchup.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Efforts worth taking to not use ketchup.

Originally, I did.

At first, it was just ketchup & black pepper, but that didn’t really work for me. So then I started mixing in other condiments, like mustard.

Eventually, I got to the first incarnation of the Fry Dip, in which It was about 1/3 each of the mustard, A1 & ketchup plus Tabasco & black pepper. And that’s the way it stayed for about a year or so. People actually asked me to make it for them on occasion.

But when I tried the 50/50 A1/mustard split, I never looked back.

And, to be 100% fair and honest, there are still times when I’m using ketchup & black pepper. USUALLY it’s when I’m at Whataburger, but even then, it’s not a requirement, it’s a changeup.

(I’m also rediscovering the joys of the onion rings there and other places…)

 

[payn]

(I’m also rediscovering the joys of the onion rings there and other places…)

Never been a big onion ring guy. Its like pancakes for me, ill leave them almost every time. There are a few local places where its a must order becasue they are that good. However, the old Porky's in St Paul closed some time ago. It was a classic burger and malt shop and folks would take their hot rod cars to show off in the summer. Im not sure what they did but their rings were always large and tasty. Not too greasy, but definitely done in lard or something. Attention to execution that most places completely lack. Then again, most places these days dump it from a bag in the fryer for this kind of thing.

 

[CleverNickName]

I've had "dry fries" like that before, and loved them! My trick was to sprinkle them with malt vinegar first, then a little salt. ~chef's kiss

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah, I'm not normally a fan of onion rings (partly as a consequence of my complicated relationship with onions in general), but every once in a while I'll hit a place that preps them in a way that absolutely suits me. And I can't even really say what the difference is.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've had "dry fries" like that before, and loved them! My trick was to sprinkle them with malt vinegar first, then a little salt. ~chef's kiss

I’d probably have done that or lemon juice myself, but neither would have been an option back then.

I mean, they had lemon juice for your tea, of course, but it was in packets akin to those for mayo/mustard/ketchup- not exactly conducive to spreading a very watery liquid over a broad expanse of fries. Wedges work much better for that.

 

[Ryujin]

One of my oddest periods in my fry-eating life was during my aforementioned college years.

After my freshman year, they reopened all the dining facilities and fired the people in charge of food service, bringing in people who knew how to cook actual recipes with actual ingredients.

But there remained one oddity: the grill in the student union used some kind of combination of potatoes & cooking oil in their deep fryers that resulted in perfectly cooked potatoes that had no surface moisture whatsoever. While this doesn’t sound bad initially, the reality was somewhat different.

With no surface moisture, the fries were basically immune to seasoning. At the time, all I wanted on my fries was salt, or maybe something like Tony Chachere’s on an exotic night.

But dry seasoning simply bounced off of these fries. You could wear your arm out shaking salt on them, and you’d wind up with salt on and around the plate, and unseasoned fries in your mouth.

So I had to rethink dipping my fries again. I hadn’t really used ketchup in YEARS, and the other condiments available were mustard, A1, Heinz 57, mayo, Tabasco, a few salad dressing options, and soy sauce (they sold mini-spring rolls).

After experimentation with a variety of combinations, I hit on what became my Fry Dipping Sauce:

50% Yellow Mustard
50% A1 steak sauce
Add Tabasco & black pepper to taste.
Mix well.

It’s foolproof and pretty versatile. The ingredients are pretty common in American burger joints, but not universal. Subbing in different mustards, steak sauces or hot sauces can be done, with generally good results. So far, though, this is my favorite incarnation.

I still default to simple dry seasoning most of the time, but this and a few other options are always a possibility:

Chili cheese fries, of course.
Lemon juice.
Malt vinegar is something the UK definitely got right.
Honey & black pepper is a winner.
Toum rules.
Vanilla shake dipping is a nifty changeup.

I've been using salsa for the last few years, because of the stupidly high amount of sugar in ketchup, but I think I'm going to look into this as a possible substitute as well. Thanks.