French Fried Taters

[Agent of Oblivion]

What is the best manner of french fry? I ate a bunch of tater tots the other day for the first time in forever with some hot dogs. I've been regressing quite a bit into childhood food lately, and have been loving it.

 

[Mazto]

I went with Wedges, but Tots were a close second, and Steak Cut filling out the top three for me.

 

[King Kamala]

Curly closely followed by tots. I think waffle would be a contender for my favorite if they were included.

 

[909]

Curly but Popeyes Cajun Fries are the BOMB

 

[Mattdotcom]

"There's more to a fry than its shape."
-ancient Buddhist saying

 

[Star Ocean 2]

french fried potatoes garnish

 

[the max]

Steak cut.

I never liked krinkle fries, I never seem to get them hot enough all the way through. No matter how I cook them, the middle is ALWAYS cold. I hate cold-in-the-middle fries.

 

[Vitamin X]

Krinkle cut is absolutely the worst. Shitty cafeteria food memories, ugh.

I never thought of tots as french fries. The reason they're called "French" fries is because of the style of cut (aka shoestring) not because it's French food (although in France they call 'em "frites", directly translating to just "fries" and never "French Fries"). If you're confused, think about when you go to your market's vegetable or frozen vegetable section, and look at the bags of "french cut green beans".

Anyways, gotta go with the classic shoestring, done in the traditional Belgian style. Always served with Fritessaus or mayo, sometimes doused in malt vinegar (thanks, Agent! I never tried this till you mentioned it), or just good ol mayo. If they're shitty fries, dip em in ketchup. Drink good beer with them. Love life.

 

[Vitamin X]

Also, making them Belgian isn't that hard. Saw a really great tutorial for making great fries a while back, so I'll share a how-to here.

1. Get some russet potatoes. If it looks like Mr. Potato Head, that's what you're looking for. You need this equipment:
A mandoline/v slicer-

A deep fryer (I have a cheapo Presto one)
Salt
White Vinegar
Good oil with a high smoke point like peanut
Garlic, parsley, olive oil (optional)

Chop potatoes in half, then slice them using the v slicer or if you think you have the knife skills, do it by hand but it'll take a lot longer. Your goal is to get evenly sliced taters.

Blanch the potatoes and add vinegar to the boiling water along with the potatoes. It won't affect the taste, don't worry. After this, you can actually freeze the unused portions or the whole batch- getting them out straight from the freezer to the fryer is actually the best way to go. Excellent way to use up a bunch of taters you don't want going bad.

Fry em once, while not overloading the fryer to distribute heat more evenly. Do until it gets some color, 5-7 minutes. Take them out and let them rest! About 15-30 minutes.

Fry em again. Frying it twice makes it so that the outside of the fry gets crispy and the inside gets cooked all the way but remains chewy. The rest period helps make it so the inside doesn't overcook.

When you take them out, IMMEDIATELY toss in salt. I also like a good persillade, which is finely minced garlic, parsley, and a touch of olive oil. Toss it in that and it gives it a really good flavor with the salt. I like serving it with Fritessaus or even just mayo. Here's a recipe for the former:

Ingredients
200g mayonnaise or creme fraiche
2 tbsp capers, chopped
1 tbsp anchovies, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
juice of quarter of a lemon
Method
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together well. Serve with potato chips or another deep fried vegetable or seafood. Store the sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If using home made mayonnaise you will only be able to keep it for a couple of hours in the refrigerator, and if this is the case use the freshest free range or organic eggs to reduce the chances of salmonella poisoning.

Soooo fucking good.

 

[King Kamala]

Count me as another person who considers krinkle cut his least favorite but at the same time, perhaps the best fries that I've had have been krinkle cut...

Pier Fries FTW. Piping hot and made with fresh Maine potatoes. Dump some vinegar on those suckers and I'm in spud heaven.

Otherwise, they range from outright terrible to mediocre.

For some reason beyond me, I haven't gone to this supposedly great Belgian fries/upscale fast food place near the waterfront downtown yet. I'll have to stop by over spring break.

 

[Precious Roy]

easily steak cut. curly would be my 2nd choice, and if I go to a restaurant and order a burger w/ fries as long as it's served with one of these 2 I am happy.

wedges are great when done right, BAD when done wrong. I think they're the kind of thing that is often better when cooked at home. there's one place I go to for breakfast a couple times a year that does BOMB potato wedges

 

[Vitamin X]

Oh god best stoner meal ever is Jack in the Box at 3am, 2 tacos for 99 cents with hot sauce and bacon cheddar potato wedges. Total is usually about $3, $3.50.

For some reason they call potato wedges jojos out here in the Pacific Northwest. I'd never heard this term before moving here, does anyone else here it? How far does jojo country spread?

edit: I think these are an Oregon thing in particular. They call em tater logs elsewhere. Basically big fucking potato wedges which are battered and fried. Picture:

 

[MFer]

Yeah, where the fuck's the waffle fries option? Anyways, I went with the shoestring fries. The only curly fries I can recall are the ones at Arby's, so that doesn't exactly work.

 

[SFH]

The only curly fries I can recall are the ones at Arby's

Hooters?

 

[MFer]

The only curly fries I can recall are the ones at Arby's

Hooters?

I've actually never been there. Strange, I know.

 

[SFH]

The only curly fries I can recall are the ones at Arby's

Hooters?

I've actually never been there. Strange, I know.

Well they are so damn picky about what towns get to host one of their precious franchises, I'm not surprised at all.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

They're all nothing unless you're eating them in Smoke's Poutinerie's "I Am Canadian" poutine flavour - fries, gravy, bacon, cheese, maple syrup and some scrambled eggs. All mixed up in a cardboard box.

 

[Mazto]

Oh god best stoner meal ever is Jack in the Box at 3am, 2 tacos for 99 cents with hot sauce and bacon cheddar potato wedges. Total is usually about $3, $3.50.

For some reason they call potato wedges jojos out here in the Pacific Northwest. I'd never heard this term before moving here, does anyone else here it? How far does jojo country spread?

edit: I think these are an Oregon thing in particular. They call em tater logs elsewhere. Basically big fucking potato wedges which are battered and fried. Picture:

Utah is back and forth, some places call them Jojo's other's just simply Tater Wedges.

 

[Precious Roy]

Hmmm...I've definitely heard the JoJo term before but not sure where, probably mid-atlantic/carolina area. I would have guessed it was a southern term, definitely not a northwestern one

 

[Broward83]

I went with curly only due to the fact that waffle is not an option on the list..

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

An egregious oversight on my part. Waffle is now included.

 

[Mattdotcom]

How far does jojo country spread?

I could hook you up with some good jojos in Bama, bro.

 

[KOAB]

WAFFLE MOTHERFUCKER

 

[Wario Lemieux]

Gas station chicken place called Dodge's in Murfreesboro has jojos. Some of the best damn fried chicken I've ever had, too. Waffle is the correct answer.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

I enjoy waffle fries, but I'd be lying if I said they were my favorite. At any rate, the best fry condiment is malt vinegar.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Classic, waffle and steak are the best. Curly can be really good but also sorta bad. Wedges and tots are meh. Krinkle cut suck dick.

 

[KOAB]

what the fuck is a steak fry

 

[King Kamala]

 

[Mattdotcom]

what the fuck is a steak fry

white man's french fry

 

[Byron The Bulb]

what the fuck is a steak fry

They're typically served at classier dining establishments, so it's not really a shocker that you're not familiar with them. Heh.