They love them. I’m not talking about Mcdonalds, I’m talking about all the Thai street vendors who sell them in street stalls.

Yes, it is the younger generation up to about 25 years old who buys them. The old generation is still eating healthy!!!

whereas a true French fry will be (as you know) nice and crispy.

That sounds like a McDonald’s fry to me, not a true french fry at all. A classical french fry is actually a bit thicker, without being thick. Maybe twice as wide on the two small dimensions. This allows the potato to cook all the way through, and get crispy on the outside, while still being a bit creamy on the inside. Perfection.

The trick (I’m told) is that they’re fried before being frozen, then fried again before consumption.

Yes, this’ll do it, but it’s actually both less and more complicated. You need to do three things to make the perfect fry:

1. Use a high starch potato, like a Russet or Idaho; never use red potatoes for fries!

2. After cutting them, soak the potatoes in ice cold water for a minimum of 20 minutes.

3. Fry them twice.

On the frying, you do it first at a lower temperature (325-350°), until they are cooked through but have not yet gotten any color. Drain them on paper towels or a wire rack, while you heat the oil up a bit more (375-390°). The fry them again, for crispness and color.

The good news (and how this relates to the above quotation about Belgian frites) is that you can freeze the fries in-between fryings. Just defrost completely before frying the second time, and dry off any condensation (paper towels, wire rack again), or your oil will splatter when you add that water to it.

Chips – fat with a crispy outer coating and soft in the middle.
Attributes 1. Easily taken hold of and dunked in [gravy, sauce, butter ......] 2. Generally associated as a British thing. 3. Can be served with a wide variety of other foods. However, again the British thing, usually with fish. 4.

For those intersted, the perfect chip is prepared in 4 stages.

Recipe for the perfect chip. Buy late crop potatoes e.g. King Edwards or some other red skinned late potato. Avoid Maris Piper
Step 1 Peel and cut to your perfered size. (Larger is generally better)
Step 2 Par boil for 5-10 mins (basically to the point just before the potato/chips become soft.
Step 3 Chill in cold running water and dry with a cloth.
Step 4 Place carefully in hot oil and cook until golden brown.
Ohh forgot Step 5 serve as with your main dish.

Personally I don’t like French fries or any chip made from an early crop potato. If there is potato dish of almost any other variety available I tend to go for that…..

Fry sauce is essentially, equal parts mayonnaise and ketchup. And I’m telling you, this stuff is the best. Next time you have some fries (and the courage to mix this stuff yourself) give it a try. You’ll never want your fries any other way.

Read this: http://www.adherents.com/largecom/frysauce.html