Proper chips

 

Don’t you just love chips? And when I say chips, I mean proper chunky chips, chip shop chips, not French fries. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for a French fry, and some of them are amazing, but you can’t beat a chip. 

I love the sense of nostalgia that you experience when you eat proper chips. It reminds me of when I was younger and I would usually spend my pocket-money in the chip shop when I went into town with friends at the weekends or when you go to the beach, there is nothing more British than sitting next to the beach eating fish and chips and trying to make your way to the end of the meal without being attacked by seagulls!I never used to make chips at home. When I was living in the UK you could always find a half decent chip shop so it was never worth the hassle of making your own. But now that I’m living in Dubai, I haven’t been able to find a decent takeaway chip shop, therefore I found myself having to make them from scratch at home.

Now I don’t eat chips too often at home, which is why it’s taken me so long to perfect the recipe. When you think about it, the recipe is so simple. Potatoes and oil. It’s as simple as that. But when you actually start making them, it turns out that there is a lot more involved in making a decent chip.

The type of potato, the type of oil, whether to par boil, whether to go through the three stage cooking process. So over the last year or so, I’ve tried all of the above and think that I’ve come up with the definitive recipe for making the best home-made chips.

The best variety of potato to use for chips is either maris piper or king Edward although they wont always be available in all supermarkets. Most supermarkets will stock a generic “White Potato” which is an all round potato which will do the job perfectly. And as for the type of oil, I’ve found that the best results come from using a vegetable oil.

I would also like to apologise about this recipe as there is no quick way of making decent chips. It involves a bit of waiting around, but if you’re planning ahead there is no reason why you can’t add these to your repertoire and make them a regular in your own kitchen.

Serves 2

Ingredients 

• 750g potatoes
• 750ml vegetable oil

1. The first thing that you need to do when making chips is to make sure that your potatoes are clean. Pop them into the sink with some water and give them a scrub to make sure that there is no mud or dirt left on the skin.
2. I never peel them as leaving the skin on results in a great texture and crunch when you are finished. Now you need to slice them. Cut the potato lengthways into three, and again, cut these slices lengthways into three. You are aiming for a chip that is about 1-1.5 cm thick.
3. Now you need to soak them. Put them into a mixing bowl and cover with cold water. By soaking them, it gets rid of the excess starch on the surface and will prevent them from sticking together when cooking. Soak for at least an hour, but longer is absolutely fine.
4. Now you are ready for the first stage of cooking. Drain the chips and then place into a large saucepan. Cover with boiling water and leave over a high heat for 7-8 minutes. Do not cook for any longer as the skins will start to come off and they may also start to disintegrate. Drain immediately and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking and then leave them in a colander to dry completely. I’ve found that the minimum time you want to leave them is around 2 hours.
5.  Once they are completely dry, it’s now time for the final frying stage of cooking. Pour the oil into a large saucepan and heat until it reaches 180°C. You need to make sure that the oil is at the correct temperature as if it’s too low, when you add the chips, they tend to boil and then they can start to disintegrate. There is enough oil here to cook all of the chips in one batch. Add the chips to the oil and fry for around 12-15 minutes, stirring and turning around half way through. They are ready when they are nice and golden in colour.Once the chips are cooked, drain on kitchen towel for a couple of minutes and sprinkle liberally with salt and add vinegar if you like. ( Although personally I’m not a fan!)