Potato chips (double cooked)

Potato chips (double cooked)

Ingredients:
Medium potatoes (use Bintje, Yukon Gold or Russett Burbank variety)
Peanut oil for deep frying
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Start by peeling the potatoes. Cut them in slices 1 cm (3/8″) thick and finally cut them into fries of 1 cm square lengths.
Put the fries in cold water for a few minutes: this washes out much of the starch and tends to make the chips less sticky after the first frying and more crispy after the second. Remove from the cold water and drain.
Dry the fries well in kitchen paper towel before putting them into the oil.
Heat the oil in a hot frying pan or deep fryer to a temperature of 160°C (320°F). Put in a handful of fries: not too many at once because the oil will cool down too much. Fry for a few minutes (4-8 minutes depending on the thickness and the kind of potatoes), stir regularly to prevent sticking. Repeat with the remaining chips.
When the chips are blanched but not cooked to a golden colour, drain and remove the chips from deep fryer. Spread the fries into a large bowl with kitchen paper (or even better on an oven plate) and let them cool down and ’sweat’ for at least 1/2 hour. Repeat with the remaining batches of blanched chips.
Finally reheat the oil in the deep fryer to 190°C (375°F) and fry the blanched chips in batches for 2 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. This way the fries will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Remove and drain the crispy and golden chips and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.