You! Yes, you? Are you home alone?
Would you like to enjoy a delicious piece of steak?
Yes, I'm sure you would.
And what is a better accompaniment to steak than fries? Glorious fresh steak fries.
However, you dread the cleanup. How can you enjoy delicious steak fries without toting giant pots of boiling oil around, and having to worry about disposal and oil fires and things?
Well, I have researched this and, after testing it a few times, think I have cracked the code.
You will need:
1 bag of "fingerling" potatoes, usually some derivative of yukon gold in Ontario
1 Japanese omelette pan, of the sort used to make tamago. I use a non-stick one I bought at the T&T grocery for about fifteen dollars, since I haven't found a stainless steel or cast iron one yet
1 container of duck fat. This is not as bad as you might think; you can get a container at Sobey's (not a fancy grocery store at all) for about eight dollars, and it contains enough duck fat for about four batches of steak frites for one
1 pair chopsticks
a plate
some paper towels
nice salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut the fingerling potatoes in half; then slice into "steak fries" shape by taking each half and slicing them lengthwise to form the "fries".
- Throw potato slices into the omelette pan. Fill omelette pan to the top with water so that it covers the potatoes. Leave for thirty minutes. This step is optional, but probably generates a slightly better texture, if you believe Kenji Lopez-Alt anyhow. Drain water.
- Return potatoes to omelette pan. Fill with water so that it reaches about halfway up each potato, and place over a burner on medium to medium-low heat, depending on your stove. Bring to a simmer. Parboil potatoes until water evaporates, or until they seem like they are about to disintegrate. You may wish to flip with the chopsticks to ensure even cooking during this stage, but this is optional, and I haven't found it to be necessary. The number of steak fries you are cooking is for one person, so actually flipping all the potatoes as needed should be very quick, about one minute.
- Remove potatoes and set aside; wipe pan with paper towel.
- Add two heaping tablespoons of duck fat to omelette pan. Bring up to a medium-low heat, so that the duck fat liquifies. Add potatoes back to omelette pan. They should be immersed, and almost covered, but not totally covered; in short, manageable.
- Bring duck fat to gentle simmer. You will have achieved the correct result when it is very gently bubbling; not smoking, not simmering. If it is smoking, it is too hot; get it off the heat, and try again.
- Deep fry potatoes in duck fat until golden-brown; flip with chopsticks halfway through.
- Turn off heat. With a slotted implement (fish spatula or spider) remove fries onto paper towel-lined plate. With another piece of paper towel, immediately blot the fries a little bit to remove excess oil; then sprinkle with the nice salt. This MUST be done while the fries are still hot.
- Serve with steak and appropriate accompaniments (fancy ketchup, mayo, sauce bearnaise, etc.)
The secret to this method is the use of the omelette pan; a perfect amount of potatoes to make fries for one can be spread along the bottom of the pan, and the small shape of the pan means that you use very little duck fat. The fat can either be stored for re-use if you are an elderly grandmother; can be used for another batch of fries if you have a Hot Date; or can be allowed to cool, then wiped out of the pan with a paper towel and thrown in the trash. No mess!
The duck fat is not optional here, as it satisfies the right combination of smoke point and good frying properties to make this work. It's also very tasty: quoting John Wick, duck fat does make all the difference.
for those of us who have never enjoyed saturated fats and/or need to avoid them for medical reasons, peanut oil or refined avocado oil will work just fine (unrefined may have too low a smoke point)