Le Fond French Fries (Full Recipe)
Le Fond French Fries
Makes | 4 servings
Day 1 | 15 minutes • Cooking day | 1 ½ hours
Everybody loves French fries and everybody knows a bad one when they see one. At Le Fond, we serve them with several menu items, so they have to be good. I like “dirty fries,” so we don’t peel the potatoes, but that’s a personal preference. Whether you peel them or leave them skin-on, the secret to crispy fried potatoes is to simmer the potatoes before you fry them. You’ll want to cook them until very tender, and then for 60 seconds more. That means a few of the fries should be slightly falling apart. You don’t want to make mashed potatoes, but the more you can soften the French fries in this first step, the creamier the interiors will be after they’re fried in the last step.
Ingredients
4 large Idaho potatoes
4 kilograms (16 cups) water 3
5 grams (4 tablespoons) salt + more to taste for seasoning the fries straight out of the fryer
150 grams (¾ cup) distilled white vinegar
1,800 grams (8 ½ cups) neutral oil, such as peanut or canola, for frying
Tools
Dutch oven
Thermometer
Skimmer or slotted spoon
Parchment paper
Instructions
One day ahead, prep the potatoes.
1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into French fry shapes about 3/8-inch thick by 3/8-inch wide. (or steak cut)
2. Soak them in cold water overnight in the refrigerator.
On your cooking day, make the fries.
1. Heat the oven to 500°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper and mist it with a small amount of cooking spray.
2. Bring the water, 30 grams salt, and vinegar to a boil. Do not let this brine reduce or it will become too strong. The brine should be almost as salty and sour as dill pickle brine. Taste it and adjust the seasoning as many times as needed.
3. Drain the cut French fries and add them to the boiling water. Once the water returns to a boil, lower it to a simmer. Cook the potatoes until they’re very tender, approximately 15–20 minutes. After 15 minutes, check them every 2 minutes for doneness. To gauge this, I grab one at random with a pair of kitchen forceps or tongs and shake it gently. It should break from the force of its own weight.
4. Drain the potatoes into a colander and spread the French fries out evenly on the parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the sheet pan 180 degrees and bake them for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let the French fries cool to room temperature before moving on to the next step. (At this point, if you are working ahead, you can store the parcooked fries in the refrigerator for up to 5 days before frying.)
5. Heat the oil to 350°F in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottom stockpot. Fry the French fries in batches, if necessary, so as not to crowd the pot. You don’t want the oil temperature to drop too much when you submerge the fries.
6. Once the fries are golden brown and crispy, after about 3–5 minutes, remove them from the oil with a skimmer and let them drain briefl y on a paper towel. Season them to taste with salt immediately when they’re still slightly glistening with oil so that the salt sticks. Serve right away.