Meet the star of the show today, our friend potato.
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| Potato has been washed in preparation for its close-up |
Did you ever wonder how potato chips are made? I once did, but then again, I watched the cooking channel for a while (Food Network) and now I know how. The way that it is made in TV Land is difficult to do at home if you don't have many fancy gadgets, but luckily, all you need is a knife and potato peeler to make my super easy Halfmoon Chips (:
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| Some golden half-moon chips |
You will need:
- potato (more potatoes= more chips, so however many potato you wish to have is your choice--I used one)
- oil (olive, canola, peanut...your choice)
- knife
- peeler (like vegetable or potato peeler)
Once our friend potato is washed, we must cut potato in half.
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| Cut in half across |
And cut the potato once more, this time lengthwise.
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| Now you have three pieces of potato |
Now peel off a thin piece of potato so that you get a thin half-moon slice of potato. Using a peeler is easier than attempting to slice thin slices, and it also yields very consistent results.
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| I usually peel from corner to corner, I find it easier. |
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| Peel as many as you wish to have chips |
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| See? Very thin. |
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| Thin as a penny--which is on paper to keep germs off cutting board, just so you know |
After peeling as many slices as you want chips heat up 4-5mm of oil in a pan. You don't have to use very much since the potato slices will float, and also they don't sink because they don't weight much and are thin.
Tip: If you want your chips to be salt, add a some salt to the oil beforehand and you want have to salt them after frying.
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| I use a saucepan, but you can use a pot or even frying pan. |
Let your oil heat up on medium heat for a few minutes, and watch the oil. I use medium heat because if high heat is used, the oil tends to start smoking, and occasionally burning, at the edges of the pan. Once the oil is hot, you can put in your first chip. If it isn't hot enough there will not be bubbles around the chip as it fries, but that's okay, wait until you see bubbles until you add the next chip.
WARNING: HOT OIL AND WATER DON'T MIX; YOUR OIL IS HOT, THE POTATO HAS WATER, PLEASE HANDLE POTATO SLICES WITH TONGS OR CHOPSTICK DUE TO RISK OF OIL POPPING AND BURNING YOU
Note: Please be very careful, I was very careful when making the chips today and was still burned twice by little pops of oil, not severe but rather painful, so be careful. (When I say popping, I'm talking about when water is in oil that results in a very fast forming bubble of oil which pops, potentially shooting out from the pan.)
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| I hold the slice at an arms length to reduce risk of getting splashed by oil. |
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| Can you see the bubbles? The oil is hot enough when you see them...also it looks like lemon slices XD |
Once the potato floats, it will be done soon. In total, it takes 3-5 minutes for the potato slice to turn into a chip depending on how hot the oil is and how dark you like your chips. With 3 minutes, I'm going for gold.
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| It floats!! The bubbles are a good sign. |
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| You can cook several slices at once, as many that will fit in the pan without overlapping. |
After 3-5 minutes that potato chip is done and almost ready to eat. I like to let them drain on a wood cutting board for a little bit so that they aren't so oily.
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| Hello my pretties B) |
You can make as many chips as you want to, just follow the same process.
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| You may notice that your potato gets more curved as you peel off more slices, don't worry about it. Just use that bit for something else. |
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| You can see the how the potato went from pale slices to golden chips |
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| Look at the beautiful texture <3 |
Once I was done making chips, I cut the remaining potato in half, and tossed it in a pot of soup.
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| *slices potato* |
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| Into the soup it goes. |
Hope you enjoy making your very own potato chips!!
