Twice Cooked, Five Spiced Belgian Chips / Fries
Chips glorious chips. If you are from the US and reading this then we call Fries, Chips. The best kind of chips are the Belgian style. Crispy, fluffy and oh so good. The best place to eat chips in the world is a place in Amsterdam. Sure the chips are good in Belgium, but the Dutch do them better.
I love seasoned chips like ‘southern fries’ so this is my version of a homemade seasoned Belgian Chips.
There are the couple of keys to making a great chip.
- Choice of potato
- Cooking twice
I use Cyprus or sometime Maris Pipers – becauce they are fairly starchy, floury and make for a good crispy chip. Don’t use the usual baking potato – you’ll get a soggy chip. Cyprus ones go crispier and Maris Pipers are fluffier.
I also twice cook them. Yes, this is a bit drawn out but it does make a really good chip. I par-boil the sliced potatoes in salted water. By salting the water, you get a crispier chip.
Don’t over cook them, but until the edges fluff slightly. Strain and toss in the strainer, to fluff the edges. Be careful you don’t want them to break. Leave them to steam and cool down to room temperature and then put in the fridge to dry out for at least an hour. This allows the starch to come out.
What you need (1 portion)
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 2 decent size Cyprus of Maris Piper potatoes. Sliced evenly into chips.
- 2 tsp sea salt (maldon salt)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Five Spice Powder
- Ketchup
- Sichimi Powder (chilli powder will do if you don’t have any)
What to do:
- Cut the potatoes and rinse in cold water
- Par-boil and cool down as described above
- Heat up the oil to about 180c
- Fry the chips
- Mix the five spice powder, pepper and salt grind a little using the back of spoon.
- Line a bowl with kitchen towel
- When the chips are golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on a kitchen towel
- Sprinkle over some the five spice mix whilst still hot and toss to coat them all evenly. You may have some seasoning left over, this is ok. Just use what you need. Adjust the salt or pepper to your preference.
- Put some ketchup into a little dish and topped with sichimi chilli powder
- Eat
- Smile
