Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

paula

11 years ago

My local Whole Foods had organic purple sweet potatoes on sale. They were a beautiful dark purple, long and fairly uniform in diameter. I just had to buy a few.

When I arrived home, I realized I did not really have a plan for using these lovely root tubers. It only took one glance at the Dutch oven sitting on my stove for me to figure it out; I’d make sweet potato fries.

Now you have to realize that I rarely deep fry anything…heck I don’t even pan fry that often. However, I thought frying would be the best way to cook these purple wonders. I was right.

No, your screen probably does not need adjusting. This is how the final product looked. The inside was a vibrant purple while the outside ranged from dark purple to lightly browned. Although there is some salt on the fries, much of the white stuff is the remnants of a too heavy of a coating of corn starch I gave the sweet potato pieces prior to frying.

The corn starch idea came from a few recipes I found. I combined multiple cooking techniques from various recipes and was VERY pleased with the results…except my overuse of corn starch at the beginning.

The sweet potato fries were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. They were not greasy. Plus, they had a delicious flavor.

I served part of them with just a little salt and a dip of combination of mayonnaise and chili sauce. The rest I coated with cinnamon and sugar…my husband’s and daughter’s favorite.

I simply placed the sweet potato fries on a paper towel lined baking sheet when I took them from the oil, shook on a little Kosher salt, and liberally coated with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before shaking off the excess to serve.

They were not a super quick side to make, but they were well worth the effort. My daughter has already asked me to make them again 🙂

Recipe: Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 lbs. +/- sweet potatoes (about 2 large)
salt
water
oil to deep fry (canola, peanut, etc.)
2 Tbsp. corn starch
Kosher salt
cinnamon and sugar mixture (optional)

Instructions:

Peel one sweet potato. (optional).
Cut potato in half if desired.
Cut potato into long, thick slabs that run the length of the potato.
Cut each slab into desired-size strips (1/4 to 1/2 “) trying to make the majority of the strips the same size.
Place cut strips into a bowl/pot of cold, salted water.
Let strips stand in water 15 to 30 minutes.
Remove from water and lay to dry in a single layer on a paper towel lined baking sheet.
Repeat the above steps with second potato either as first potato soaks or after removing it from the water. (Or, you can do them simultaneously).
If doing one potato at a time, while the second batch is soaking, place drying potato strips in a large zipper-style plastic bag. Otherwise, just place half of the potato strips in the bag.
Add one tablespoon of corn starch and shake well to LIGHTLY coat the potatoes.
Dump coated strips onto a second baking sheet to help remove excess.
Repeat coating process with second potato.
Remove soaked paper towel baking sheet. Dry sheet and line it with new paper towels.
Meanwhile, place heavy Dutch Oven or similar on stove and add a few inches of oil. Insert a fry thermometer onto pot and heat oil. Or, use a deep fryer.
When oil has reached 280 to 290 degrees F, place small batches of the very lightly coated sweet potato strips in the oil.
Cook for about 3 minutes until the sweet potatoes get tender.
Remove with slotted spoon or a spider and place on a paper towel lined baking sheet.
Repeat frying process in small batches until all the sweet potato strips have been fried.
Increase oil temperature to 350 degrees F.
Add previously fried potatoes in small batches to the higher temp oil and fry for a minute or two until they are crispy.
Remove from oil onto a baking sheet lined with a clean paper towel and season to taste while they are still hot.
Serve hot/warm.

So, does the cornstarch really make any difference to the crispiness of these fries. Well, I am not sure. I do know that I did not have any popping and splattering when I added the sweet potatoes to the oil. I also know that the sweet potato fries did not stick together while they were frying (albeit, I did stir them with my slotted spoon a little as they fried). So, I never tried a batch without it….one day I will and I will let you know. If you try it first, please let me know if it made a difference.

Enjoy!