How to cook the ultimate hot chips at home
Whether you like your chips thick, crinkle-cut or shoestring thin, a few essential steps can make all the difference between a soggy mess and a mouth-watering masterpiece. These are the tricks to know.
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For Paul Wilson, it’s all about a genuine potato flavour, while Sean Donovan says it must be crisp and gnarly on the outside.
Todd Moses is no fan of the shoestring and Emma Musgrove says for her, it’s crinkle cut all the way.
When it comes to the perfect potato chip, personal preference plays a big part. But cracking the code for the ultimate hot chip pays off with happy diners for chefs and home cooks alike.
Emma Musgrove from caterers Fred & Ginger has spent the past couple of months dedicated to defining the ultimate chip.
Charged with catering the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s opening night party, Maximum Chips, Musgrove has devoted days in the kitchen to creating the perfect potato chip.
The all-you-can-eat hot chip chow down is set to get the festival off to a carb-tastic start at its new Queen Victoria Market hub next week, and Musgrove’s team is getting ready to hand-cut more than 400kg of potatoes for the event where stretchy pants are part of the dress code.
“We presented the festival with about 10 different types of chips (for the event), including our hand-cut chip, a 7cm French fry, a 12cm French fry, a beer-battered chip and crinkle cut. We looked at wedges, but decided they weren’t chips. Deciding on what to serve wasn’t without a bit of controversy in the kitchen,” Musgrove says, laughing.
From trialling potatoes to working out the oil and a failsafe method for cooking thousands of chips for hundreds of people, Musgrove knows what it takes to create the ultimate hot chip.
WHICH POTATOES MAKE THE BEST HOT CHIPS?
“One key thing to consider is the time of year for the potatoes, they’re seasonal so the type to use varies. Right now, sebagos are the best to use,” she says.
Labelled “washed white potatoes” at the supermarket, Musgrove says the sebago delivers a consistently fluffy and crisp chip.
Running two of Melbourne’s most popular pubs — the Fitzroy Town Hall Hotel and Mount Erica in Prahran — Sean Donovan has seen millions of chips come out of his fryer over the years and says his potato of choice is the russet burbank.
They’re large, dry white potatoes with relatively low carbohydrate levels, which helps them become crisp without burning.
“The Americans call them Idaho potatoes and use them for French fries,” he says.
Paul Wilson at Morgan’s in Sorrento also rates russets for their “consistent shape and size, which allows for even cooking”, while sebagos get Todd Moses’s vote at French Saloon in the city.
“We find they’re the most consistent year-round from the Mornington Peninsula. They’re a great shape, which gives a good yield, and not too high in natural sugars, which allows us to double fry the potato,” Moses says.
TOP TIPS FOR COOKING HOT CHIPS
While Heston Blumenthal famously proscribed triple cooking as delivering the ultimate chip, it seems most of our experts agree twice-cooked chips deliver maximum fluff-and-crunch for less effort.
Firstly, though, the cut chips should be rinsed in cold water until it runs clear. These should then be soaked for another 12 hours (or overnight) to rinse off all excess starch.
Drain, pat dry and cook in oil at 150C for 7 minutes. Drain and cool to room temperature on a rack.
“This seals the outer of the chip, and sets the starch without dehydrating the potato, getting it ready for the final fry to order,” Moses says.
When ready to serve, re-cook at 180C for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.
This double-cooking method delivers a crunchy outer and steamed, fluffy inner.
For those who want to give triple-cooking a go, the first step, after rinsing the potatoes, is to parboil them in a pan of salted water until they are very soft — almost breaking apart.
Carefully remove and place on a cake rack in the fridge until cold. Then double fry in batches, as above.
“Twice or thrice cooking protects the integrity of the potato’s interior and exterior — always fluffy with a crunchy finish,” Wilson says.
OILS AIN’T OILS
At French Saloon, Moses uses an organic sunflower oil for his famous fries — “it has a neutral flavour and minimal odour, resulting in a cleaner fry” — while Wilson favours rice bran oil as it’s healthier than other oils.
A neutral vegetable oil is on frying duties in the Fred & Ginger kitchen, while Sean Donovan uses beef tallow/dripping to cook his ultimate chips.
CUT ABOVE
At home, cutting chips by hand is the way to go, but a hand-press chip cutter delivers consistency in the commercial kitchen.
“We use one with a 10mm square cut attachment. It sure has paid for itself a few times over,” Moses says.
“We think the straight cut 7cm chip is a great all-rounder for home,” Musgrove says. “Not too small, not too big — it can be done in a pot of oil at home, doesn’t need a commercial fryer.”
STRAIGHT TO THE SAUCE
“We had lots of fights in the kitchen over seasoning and toppings. Some of our chefs believe you should have gravy plus cheese. Some think gravy. The condiments you put on your chips is a big question, as it’s down to personal preference,” Musgrove says.
“At Maximum Chips there’ll be an amazing, interactive condiment station, with people involved showing all the amazing condiments that can go on the chips. We’ll have vinegar spray, chicken salt, gravy inspired by the classic Sunday roast, but vegetarian, and mayonnaise, ketchup and mustards, of course.”
Above: Inside the auditions for the Maximum Chips event’s ‘Condiment Crew’
Donovan says béarnaise sauce is his go-to chip dunker.
“I love the richness of the béarnaise sauce, well seasoned and cut with lemon juice and Tabasco sauce as my perfect condiment for hand-cut chips,” he says.
“I’ve tried a few flavours and condiments over the years, but a personal favourite and one I adopt presently is dried wakame seaweed flakes,” Wilson says. “Naturally salty, full of vitamins and umami, it has a marine flavour that stops you in your tracks craving for more.”
For Moses, “malt vinegar and Olsson’s sea salt does the job just fine”.
CHICKEN SALT OR NORMAL SALT?
“We’ve had many normal salt versus chicken salt discussions,” Musgrove says.
But for those for whom chips equal chicken salt, it’s now a guilt-free pleasure thanks to the clever people at spice merchants Gewurzhaus.
They’ve reverse-engineered the chip shop classic condiment into a family friendly, 100 per cent natural seasoning that’s as addictive as the original.
With toasted sesame, kelp, garlic and onion powder and a touch of coconut sugar mixed through Pyramid salt from the Loddon Plains in northern Victoria, a few shakes will give every dish a hit of umami as tasty as it is natural.
This new-and-improved version will be on salt-shaking duties at Maximum Chips — and is available for home from Gewurzhaus stores and online.
10 TOP HOT CHIP TOPPINGS TO TRY
Play with the sauce-to-chip ratio to suit your preferences. Sometimes you want the chips soaked, and other times a light smattering does the trick.
1. CHILLI CHEESE
Drizzle hot chips with hot chilli sauce and scatter with crumbled mild blue cheese. Sprinkle with chopped fresh chives.
2. MUMBAI
Drizzle hot chips with mango chutney and Greek yoghurt, then sprinkle with ground cumin. Scatter with finely chopped red onion and thinly sliced fresh green chilli.
3. ZORBA
Scatter hot chips with finely chopped deseeded tomato, sliced pitted kalamata olives and crumbled feta. Sprinkle with dried oregano leaves and fresh oregano leaves.
4. TURNING JAPANESE
Drizzle hot chips with wasabi mayonnaise. Scatter over shredded nori and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
5. POUTINE
Place hot chips on an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with coarsely grated mozzarella. Bake at 200C/180C fan forced until melted. Drizzle with gravy and sprinkle with baby parsley leaves.
6. MEXICAN NIGHT
Scatter hot chips with crispy fried, finely chopped chorizo and finely chopped deseeded tomato. Top with sour cream, chopped avocado and sliced fresh green
jalapeño chilli.
7. BANH MI
Top hot chips with carrot matchsticks, shredded roast chicken and fresh coriander leaves. Drizzle with mayo and sprinkle with thinly sliced fresh red chilli.
8. CHEESY DIPPERS
Place hot chips in an ovenproof frying pan or baking dish. Top with chopped leg ham and sprinkle with coarsely grated cheddar. Bake at 200C/180C fan forced until melted. Top with baby cornichons. Sprinkle with baby herbs.
9. PIZZA PARTY
Arrange hot chips in a circle on a pizza tray. Sprinkle with grated mozzarella. Grill until melted. Drizzle with napoletana sauce and top with pepperoni slices. Sprinkle with extra grated mozzarella and grill until cheese melts. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.
10. THE WORKS
Place hot chips on a baking tray. Drizzle with napoletana sauce and sprinkle with coarsely grated mozzarella. Bake at 200C/180C fan forced until cheese melts. Top with fried crispy bacon and thinly sliced green shallot.
Source: Taste Magazine
Maximum Chips is at Queen Victoria Market's Shed X for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival on Friday, March 20, 5-10pm. Tickets $35.
RECIPE: CRUNCHY THICK-CUT POTATO CHIPS
Serves 4
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 45 mins
INGREDIENTS
1.2kg red delight potatoes, peeled
Olive oil cooking spray
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon Paprika Ground
Sea salt, to serve
METHOD
Step 1
Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Cut potatoes into 1.5cm-thick slices. Cut each slice into 1.5cm-thick chips. Place potato in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Boil for 3 minutes or until just tender. Drain.
Step 2
Return to pan over low heat. Toss for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until excess liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Transfer potato to a greased baking tray. Spray with oil. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and paprika. Season well with salt and pepper. Gently toss to combine. Spray well with oil.
Step 3
Bake, turning chips and spraying with oil halfway through cooking, for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and crisp. Serve sprinkled with sea salt.
Recipe: Claire Brookman, Super Food Ideas
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