Pommes Paille, crispy potato straws, are ultra-thin french fries! They fry up in simply 90 seconds, making them a speedy snack, or use as a basic garnish for dishes like tartare and tataki.
Pommes Paille – crispy potato straws
These crispy potato straws are the garnish I made for the Beef Tataki recipe that I additionally revealed right this moment. I’m writing the recipe individually as a result of it’s worthy of being a recipe by itself relatively than buried within the tataki recipe!
Referred to as pommes paille in France, which interprets to ‘potato straws’, they resemble golden, crispy strands of straw piled excessive in your plate. There’s nothing like a mound of them with a juicy steak or steak tartare, or just a big of bowl of them for snacking!
In contrast to common french fries, potato straws are nice served sizzling or at room temperature, and they’re crisp all through relatively than simply on the surface. Suppose – potato crisps. In truth, they’re selfmade french fry crisps which have been all the time my favorite as a child!
What you want for Crispy Potato Straws (Pommes Paille)
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Potato – Starchy or all-rounder potatoes. Australia: Sebago potatoes (the filth brushed ones) are splendid, US: Russet, UK: Maris Piper. Simply not waxy ones (they gained’t go as crispy and don’t fry up as evenly golden).
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Oil – Vegetable oil, canola or some other pure flavoured oil. You solely want about 2 cm / 0.8″ of oil.
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Salt flakes or desk salt – As a result of the potato straws are so high-quality, I discover that salt flakes stick higher as a result of they’re lighter than the coarser grain cooking salt (kosher salt) that I exploit for on a regular basis cooking. I crush the flakes up between my fingers earlier than sprinkling them on. Fleur de sel additionally works as a result of it has the same delicateness to salt flakes, although it’s dearer so I sometimes reserve it for extra worthy functions! In the event you don’t have salt flakes, use desk salt.
How you can make Crispy Potato Straws (Pommes Paille)
So long as you’ve received a julienne mandolin, it’s comparatively fast to make – a fraction of the time of conventional French fries. There’s no soaking or pre-boiling or twice frying. Simply julienne the potato, rinse off extra starch then they solely take 90 seconds to fry as much as crispy golden perfection!
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Julienne – Use a julienne mandolin to finely minimize the potato into skinny strands. The orange mandolin pictured cuts the potato into 2 mm thick items (1/16″) so the potato straws are delicately crisp (splendid to make use of as garnish). To function a aspect dish alongside a protein, it’s sometimes a contact thicker so use a 3 – 4mm / 1/8″ julienne mandolin.
In the event you don’t have a julienne mandolin, exhibit your knife expertise! Finely slice the potato into rounds, stack, then finely slice.
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Water bowl – Switch minimize potato straight into a big bowl of water, to forestall them from going brown.
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Rinse the potato within the bowl, re-filling with contemporary water as wanted, till the water runs clear. The cloudiness is from the starch from the potato. It isn’t a good friend of crispiness, so we need to get experience of it. Then drain the potato in a colander.
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Dry – tip the potato onto a tea towel then pat dry utilizing one other tea towel. Get off as a lot extra water as you’ll be able to as it will scale back how a lot the oil bubbles up if you cook dinner in addition to a crispy insurance coverage. If time permits, simply unfold out on a tea towel, pat dry then depart to air dry for an hour or so (I sometimes strive to do that).
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Frying – Warmth 2.5 cm (1″) of oil in a saucepan or pot to 180°C/350°F being positive to depart 10cm/4″ headroom above the oil floor to the rim of the saucepan (oil effervescent clearance, see under for earlier than/after comparability).
Scatter potato slowly throughout the floor (don’t dump in a single place). Add sufficient so the potato is in a single layer, it will preserve them extra straight (too many = tangled and curly and can take longer to cook dinner). Pause if the oil begins effervescent too energetically then preserve including extra potato. ⚠️ Warning: The oil will bubble up if you add the potato so add slowly, then add extra because it subsides (it bubbles up probably the most when the primary lot of potato goes in).
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Fry for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, separating tangled potatoes, or till the potato straws are crispy and light-weight golden (they are going to go a deeper golden as they drain). Scoop out then drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato straws. Sprinkle with salt then serve!
How you can serve Crisp Potato Straws (Pommes Paille)
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Heat or at room temperature – In contrast to common French fries that are at their finest served sizzling, potato straws are nice heat or at room temperature. It is because they’re crisp all through, like potato crisps. Additionally, they keep 100% crisp for at the least 5 days!
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Aspect dish – Pile a mountain of them on the aspect of a steak with Bearnaise Sauce or Café de Paris butter- and also you’ve received Steak Frites! However they’re equally at house alongside pan fried fish or Fish with White Wine Sauce, burgers (a cheeseburger!) or a easy piece of hen like Rooster Francese, Rooster with Creamy Mustard Sauce or Rooster Piccata (this is able to be my decide)
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Garnish – For the thinner potato straws, as pictured (2mm / 1/16″ thick), these are splendid to make use of if you’re searching for a textural garnish so as to add a little bit of fancy pizzaz to a dish! Listed here are some concepts:
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Beef tataki (accompanying recipe)
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Steak or tuna tartare (coming at some point!)
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Related dishes like carpaccio and different crudos the place you desire a delicate crispy garnish to complete the dish
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However actually, one of the best ways to eat them is in a large bowl to munch on by the fistful! Wonderful for snacking or for pre dinner drinks (I communicate from expertise right here!). – Nagi x
Watch find out how to make it
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Crispy potato straws (Pommes Paille)
Prep: 10 minutes
Prepare dinner: 10 minutes
Sides
French
Servings1
Faucet or hover to scale
Directions
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Shred – Finely julienne the potato utilizing a julienne mandoline, 2-4 mm / 1/16 – 1/8″ thick. (Notice 2)
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Rinse – Place potato in a bowl of water and rinse, altering the water as wanted, till the water is obvious. Drain in a colander. (Potato might be stored in water in a single day within the fridge).
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Dry – Unfold on tea towels then pat dry. If time permits, unfold out and air dry for 1 hour+. (Drier potato = much less oil effervescent + crispier fries).
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Warmth the oil in a saucepan over excessive warmth to 180°C/350°F, making certain there’s 10 cm/4″ clearance above the oil floor (the oil bubbles up).
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Add potato into oil – SLOWLY scatter potato throughout the floor of the oil (do not dump in as soon as place). ⚠️The oil will bubble as much as ~7cm/3″, so add potato slowly, and you may pause till the bubbles subside earlier than including extra. (Notice 3 for cooking suggestions)
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Fry for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes, utilizing chopsticks (or related) to stir a couple of times. As soon as mild golden and crisp, scoop out and drain on paper towels. (It goes extra golden because it drains). Repeat with remaining potato.
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Season – Fastidiously slide the fries right into a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and gently toss. Serve instantly whereas heat, or cool.
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Serve in bowls for munching, as a garnish like for Beef Tataki or serve a mound alongside a juicy steak or different protein (see in put up for extra concepts).
Recipe Notes:
2. Julienne dimension – Thinner (2mm / 1/16″) is good if utilizing to garnish dishes just like the Beef Tataki. 4mm / 1/8″ thick is common thickness for Pommes Paille served as a aspect to mains, like steak. Recipe will work for each, and each are scrumptious! (Thinner = cooks sooner and extra delicate).
3. Frying suggestions
- Fry a single layer of potatoes at a time
- Don’t crowd the pot, the potato will tangle, they are going to brown inconsistently and take longer to cook dinner.
- The oil bubbles madly at first if you add the potato however it should subside to a sizzle. As soon as the sizzle stops and it seems just like the potatoes are simply poaching in oil, that’s normally concerning the time the fries are prepared!
- Don’t dump the potatoes in a single place, it causes the oil to bubble up madly and the potato will tangle (and break if you attempt to separate).
Storage – As soon as totally cool, it should keep crispy for five – 6 days in an hermetic container, within the pantry. You may as well reheat in a 150°C/300°F oven for 3 – 5 minutes.
Lifetime of Dozer
Final weekend – bounding his method by his senior years! Very used to his life jacket now. Much less stress for me, means I don’t have to fret even when he swims method off shore.
