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 at present. I’m writing the recipe individually as a result of it’s worthy of being a recipe by itself somewhat 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!
Not like common french fries, potato straws are nice served scorching or at room temperature, and they’re crisp all over somewhat than simply on the skin. Assume – potato crisps. The truth is, they’re do-it-yourself french fry crisps which have been at all times 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 grime brushed ones) are perfect, US: Russet, UK: Maris Piper. Simply not waxy ones (they received’t go as crispy and don’t fry up as evenly golden).
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Oil – Vegetable oil, canola or another 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 nice, 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 an identical delicateness to salt flakes, although it’s costlier so I sometimes reserve it for extra worthy functions! Should you don’t have salt flakes, use desk salt.
Easy methods to make Crispy Potato Straws (Pommes Paille)
So long as you’ve acquired 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 (perfect to make use of as garnish). To function a facet dish alongside a protein, it’s sometimes a contact thicker so use a 3 – 4mm / 1/8″ julienne mandolin.
Should you don’t have a julienne mandolin, showcase 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 stop 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 pal of crispiness, so we need to get trip 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 whenever you prepare 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 go away 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 maintain them extra straight (too many = tangled and curly and can take longer to prepare dinner). Pause if the oil begins effervescent too energetically then maintain including extra potato. ⚠️ Warning: The oil will bubble up whenever you add the potato so add slowly, then add extra because it subsides (it bubbles up essentially 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 lightweight golden (they’ll go a deeper golden as they drain). Scoop out then drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato straws. Sprinkle with salt then serve!
Easy methods to serve Crisp Potato Straws (Pommes Paille)
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Heat or at room temperature – Not like common French fries that are at their finest served scorching, potato straws are nice heat or at room temperature. It’s because they’re crisp all over, 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 facet of a steak with Bearnaise Sauce or Café de Paris butter- and also you’ve acquired Steak Frites! However they’re equally at residence alongside pan fried fish or Fish with White Wine Sauce, burgers (a cheeseburger!) or a easy piece of rooster like Hen Francese, Hen with Creamy Mustard Sauce or Hen Piccata (this could be my decide)
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Garnish – For the thinner potato straws, as pictured (2mm / 1/16″ thick), these are perfect to make use of whenever you’re in search of 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 in the future!)
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Comparable dishes like carpaccio and different crudos the place you need a delicate crispy garnish to complete the dish
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However actually, one of the best ways to eat them is in an enormous bowl to munch on by the fistful! Wonderful for snacking or for pre dinner drinks (I converse from expertise right here!). – Nagi x
Watch the best way to make it
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Crispy potato straws (Pommes Paille)
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook 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 evident. Drain in a colander. (Potato might be saved 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, guaranteeing 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’ll 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 comparable) to stir a few times. As soon as gentle 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 facet to mains, like steak. Recipe will work for each, and each are scrumptious! (Thinner = cooks quicker 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’ll brown inconsistently and take longer to prepare dinner.
- The oil bubbles madly at first whenever you add the potato however it’ll subside to a sizzle. As soon as the sizzle stops and it appears just like the potatoes are simply poaching in oil, that’s often in regards to 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 whenever you attempt to separate).
Storage – As soon as absolutely cool, it’ll keep crispy for five – 6 days in an hermetic container, within the pantry. You can even reheat in a 150°C/300°F oven for 3 – 5 minutes.
Lifetime of Dozer
Final weekend – bounding his approach by way of 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 approach off shore.
