Solving the magic of triple cooked chips
My first outing of this iconic food was instructive. Take note. It’s good.
Ever since Heston Blumenthal introduced the triple cooked chip, the restaurant world has made sure we never forget. Producing the same at home takes more planning than you might think. It’s worth it.
Here is what I learned from my first outing on the road to triple cooked chip nirvana:
Heston recommends Maris Piper potatoes. I concur. I’ve no idea about other types but these produce amazeballs results.
Cut the potatoes as evenly as possible. Even size makes for even cooking time. Discard the ‘chips’ that are well out of gauge. If not then you’ll be fighting the cooking time differences and end up with a mess.
Assuming you have something else to go with the chips and assuming that’s something like fried fish then get the fish done just ahead of the final fry - keep the fish (or whatever) in a slow oven, say at 120 degC. On this outing I fried whiting goujons that took a bit longer than the chips. The final chip fry is much faster than you think. In my case, less than 3 mins at 180 degC.
Heston says to freeze the chips after the initial cook for 30 mins. I didn’t. I left them covered with a tea cloth for two hours. That works very well as the chips end up dry yet fluffy as Heston recommends. It also meant I had a lazy cook time - important if you’re catering for a crowd.
Use a good cooking thermometer to check your frying oil temp at both stages. The use of a thermometer might sound over the top but trust me, it’s worth it.
After the first fry, drain the chips on kitchen paper. This ensures your final product isn’t oily but crispy.
For the final fry, be ready to serve immediately. Chips that are left any amount of time are yucky.
Consider a mixture of veg and lard for your frying medium. Lard adds flavour but isn’t Halal or Kosher so respect your guests.
For the final fry, work in small batches. You want to control servings and that’s not easy in a home fryer. Your guests will get the idea and forgive you for a series of final cooks, especially as they will come at a few minutes interval. In my case I used a wok that can hold two servings per fry. It adds to the theatre of home cooked alfresco dining!
Sprinkle copious amounts of sea salt at the end. Sea salt adds way more flavour than the iodised crap you get from the supermarket. And it doesn’t mask the chip flavour
I hope that helps. Heston is an amazing chef yet sometimes we home cooks can’t do what he suggests. This story is the result of my minor adaptations of his original recipe. The adaptations work but try for yourself.