Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 412 kcal | 117 kcal |
| Protein | 7.5 g | 2.1 g |
| Fat | 16.4 g | 4.7 g |
| saturated | 2.3 g | 0.7 g |
| Carbohydrate | 53.6 g | 15.2 g |
| sugars | 2.9 g | 0.8 g |
| Fibre | 8.4 g | 2.4 g |
| Sodium | 26 mg | 7 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.4 kg large Idaho potatoes (about 8 medium), peeled and cut like French fries
- 4 to 5 1/4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more for increased spiciness)
- Dash of hot pepper sauce
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into sticks of the same square section, about the width of a chip. Any stick noticeably fatter than its neighbours will still be bending when the rest have gone crisp.
- Rinse the cut sticks under cold water until it runs clear. Potato surfaces shed a lot of free starch, and that starch is the glue that welds sticks into clumps on the tray.
- Blanch them in boiling water for five minutes or so. This is not optional on potato — raw starch dries into something chalky that never crisps, and blanching also halts the enzymes that would turn the batch grey.
- Drop them straight into ice water and leave them until they are cold through. Residual heat keeps cooking them otherwise, and an overcooked stick collapses rather than drying.
- Drain them and pat them properly dry before the oil goes near. Oil will not cling to a wet surface, and what does not cling ends up pooled on the tray.
- Toss the sticks with the olive oil, cumin, black pepper, cayenne and hot sauce, and only then salt them. Salting last is deliberate: salt on a wet potato pulls water straight back out and undoes what the towel just did.
- Spread the sticks so none are crossing and dry at 57 °C for 9 hours, shaking the trays once or twice. Sticks roll and settle into the same grooves, and the point where two touch stays damp.
- A finished stick snaps and shatters rather than bending. Let one cool first — the oil keeps them pliable while warm, which fools people into running these far longer than they need.
- Store them in an airtight tin for three weeks. The oil sets that limit rather than the potato: once they taste faintly of crayons, the oil has gone and so has the batch.
