Perfect Pommes Frites Recipe (French Fries) (2024)

FAQs

Why do you soak potatoes in water before making French fries? ›

The main reasons to cut the potatoes and pre-soak in water are: To allow the excess starches and sugars to be removed from the outer surface of the fry strips AND to keep the potatoes from browning prematurely from exposure to air. Covering in water helps the potato from turning a dark color.

The Double-Fry Method

When it comes to the actual cooking, you want to fry the french fries twice. The first round is at a lower temperature to cook the inside of the potato and the second time you'll use a higher temperature to make the fries golden brown and crispy.

In France and other French-speaking countries, fried potatoes are formally pommes de terre frites, but more commonly pommes frites, patates frites, or simply frites.

When a small amount of vinegar is added to the soaking water before frying, it can help impart a tangy flavor to the fries without making them taste overly vinegary. The acid in the vinegar can also help to slightly break down the surface of the potatoes, aiding in the development of a crispier texture during frying.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Blanching: The Reason Why French Fries Taste Better

Your potatoes need to take two separate dips in hot oil to reach restaurant quality. Oil-blanching is a two-part process that reduces the moisture and starch content in your fries, helping them crisp up.

Potatoes in French are pommes de terre (or “apples of the earth”) and fried is frite. So just like Americans shorten French fries to fries, French speakers shorten pommes frites to frites. Frites also make an appearance on menus in the US to describe thicker-cut fries in the French or Belgian style.

The french fries that originated in Belgium are a universal side in the U.S., with shape varieties like shoestring, waffle, and crinkly. As ubiquitous in Britain, fried potato slices or wedges are called chips unlike the thin oft-bagged snack in the States — which are crisps in England.

It comes from Sydney Rhyming Slang. 'Pom' is short for 'pomegranate', which rhymes with 'immigrant'. It dates from a time when the majority of immigrants to Australia were from Britain, with the result that the word 'immigrant' was synonymous with 'British' in people's minds.

Just a quick 15-30 minute soak in water does the trick if you're in a rush, though if you are planning ahead you can let the sliced russets or yes, even sweet potatoes, bathe for hours or even overnight before draining, drying, and frying them up.

Should you put salt in water when soaking potatoes? ›

Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.

The soaking, Mr. Nasr said, is the secret to the crisp texture of the fries. It draws out the starch, making them more rigid and less likely to stick together. The cooks fry them twice, first blanching them until slightly limp in peanut oil heated to 325 degrees, and again in 375-degree oil to crisp and brown them.

Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.