Our best Classic french fry recipe:

You need:

Russett or Bintje Potatoes: 1-2 medium-sized spuds per serving

some powdered sugar

Oil (plain old vegetable oil works, but shortening is even better!)

A sharp knife

Let the potatoes sit for about a 4-7 days on a table. Don't worry about them sprouting eyes; they probably won't. If they do, break them off.

When the potatoes are ready (they should still be firm), peel them and cut out any green, black or otherwise yukky part.

Prepare a big bowl of water and add enough powdered sugar to make it pretty sweet (about 1 Tablespoon per cup of water or 15ml per 250ml)

The tricky cutting part (Cut 'em too thin and you've got blah potato sticks):
Cut the potato into about 1-1.25cm thick (about 3/8 inch) slices, and then cut the slices into sticks just as thick.

You should use a temperature-controlled fryer. Turn it on and heat the oil to 335 degrees F (170 degrees C). Only fill the fryer about halfway with oil!

You might want to let the cut potatoes soak in plain water for a few hours to let out excess starch. Then, drain them and put them into the sugar-water.

After the potatoes have soaked in the sugar-water for at least 15 mins, take some and drain them and then place them in the fryer. You should only put about one-third as many fries in the fryer as there is oil; fries need room to swim.

After about 30 sec., stir the fries (with a stick or fork or spoon!) so they don't stick together.

After about 4-6 minutes (depending on water content), they should be a dark golden-brown. Your fries are ready to come out of the oil and be drained.

The easiest way to drain them is to put them on a plate that has a lot of paper towels on it. If you want to salt them, salt them right away, then mix them around to drain them more and spread the salt.

Start another batch.

Don't let them sit around too long or they'll get soggy and mushy and not taste very good.

American East Coast Beach-style Fries

Cut the potatoes a little thicker and instead of the sugar-water, use just a few drops of lemon juice in a big bowl of water. After all the fries are in the bowl of water, take them out, drain them, and let them sit around until they start to get limp (about half an hour). Fry them just as above. They may take a little longer to cook (about 5 1/2 mins.) and they only change colour a little bit.

American Western Steak-Cut Fries

Don't peel the potatoes (use the thin, light-skinned kind and wash 'em really good). Cut them even thicker and make them about twice as wide as they are long. No water bath -- just straight into the oil for about 6-8 minutes until they start to change colour or get a really even, crispy shell.

This one from from Frances F. in Quebec, Canada:

"Here in Quebec you can order something called a Poutinea>, which is a Quebecois dish whose main ingredient is French fries, but it's covered with kind of barbeque gravy with melted "fromage de grains" mingled in with the sauce and French fries. The fromage de grains seems to be unique to Quebec (I've travelled North America and have yet seen it anywhere else) it is a kind of white cheese curd. While this dish might sound disgusting, it is actually quite good."

Try it at your own risk.

This recipe provided as a public service. We accept no responsibility and assume no risk should you try this. It has been provided for informational purposes only.
For more information on Poutine, see the Poutine page.

This one from Marc Meyer in France:

1. Use a variety of potatoes (BF15 in France, Russett in the US) with a firm and solid flesh.
2. Peel and cut to the size of a finger
3. Put the fries under running water (no sugar) to remove excess starch
4. Dry the fries on a clean towel
5. Cook the fries into clean oil but the trick is do it twice.
   The first cook at 140 degrees C (280 degrees Fahrenheit) will cook the inside of the fries (3 minutes max). The second will cook the surface only so you will have crispy fries with soft insides.
6. When they turn yellow and become soft, remove and cool them.
7. Heat the oil to 170 degrees C (340 degrees F) and then plunge the partially-cooked, cooled fries into the oil.
8. Remove in 30 seconds (when they take on a soft brown colour)

This is the par-fry method which commercial frozen french fry producers (as well as Belgians, British, Dutch and other Europeans) use, except that they do the par fry for a shorter time and at a higher temperature (same as you would use). It works best with thicker cuts of potatoes.
For another implementation of this method, see how Belgian Fries of New York City does it.

Calories:

...and remember, the smaller you cut the potato, the more calories you cut through and destroy, but don't go overboard, because mashed potatoes aren't the same as French Fries and they also don't fry very well.

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