Crinkle cut chips

The secret to a good chip should be no surprise. Good spuds, good fat and care in the cooking. That said, they’re dead easy to make once you know the routine.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

I grew up with hand cut chips, and want my son to have the same thrill. We have a little hand crinkle cutter that we got from an op-shop that Hedley and I use to cut chips, before twice cooking them in beef fat. Matthew Evans, Gourmet Farmer Series 4

Ingredients

• 500 g starchy potatoes, such as King Edward or Up-to-date potatoes, peeled
• 300 g beef fat, approximately
• Salt

Instructions

Using a crinkle-cutter, cut the potatoes into batons about 8 mm-thick and as long as your potatoes are wide.

Place the beef fat in a wok or similar over high heat until about 130°C. That’s where it takes a breadcrumb a good 10-20 seconds before it sizzles. Cook the chips in 2 batches, stirring often, until they’re soft through – they won’t brown at this stage. Remove from the wok using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

Heat the oil to 180°C -190°C or when a breadcrumb dropped into the oil sizzles straight away. Cooking in 2 batches, slide the chips in carefully and cook, stirring often, until lovely and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on fresh paper towel, before tossing with salt and serving while hot. You might want to think about eating something else, too. Like a salad. Or some fresh veg.

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Lucy Tweed. Food preparation by Tammi Kwok. Creative concept by Belinda So.

Matthew Evans is back in his brand-new series of Gourmet Farmer, 8pm Thursday nights on SBS and on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

I grew up with hand cut chips, and want my son to have the same thrill. We have a little hand crinkle cutter that we got from an op-shop that Hedley and I use to cut chips, before twice cooking them in beef fat. Matthew Evans, Gourmet Farmer Series 4