There and back again.
(remember to insert a hyperlink, tomorrow when the post is up)
Anyhow, dropped Aunt Girlie off at the bus station on Tuesday, and then stopped by the fresh produce stalls near Kamunting for Mom to stock up on them bananas. We found a major piece of a sweet potato (in which I shall henceforth christened Hulkbuster; although, in retrospect it should be Black Panther's Hulkbuster armor with its color scheme, but I can't remember if it does indeed have a name?) and since Mom wanted to get it for its' tiny little shoot to , um, well, re-grow it back, I offered her to do something with the rest of that spud. In any case, she was unsure what to cook with it due to its size, so I stepped in promising something else, though at the back of my mind I knew I wanted to do some Sweet Potato Fries, yet I knew I had to keep it a secret from her since her sort-of dislike to All-Things-Fried.
So yeah, I've never did these hand-made fries, except when I did/learnt them on one such kitchen roll-out during the ol' Kitchen Manager days. Of course, as with all things, in theory it should work! :D
To be fair, I switched it up a bit and since I wasn't sure Mom will be okay with the fried stuffs; I decided to leave those that I pre-baked as it is, hence I am left with 3 styles of fries, well to be fair, it isn't exactly tri-style, since it is just bake vs fried, but perhaps someday I shall do a proper third way. So on with the game recipe!
3-Way Sweet Potato Fries with Roasted Garlic Aioli
Ingredients
The Fries
Sweet Potatoes - washed, scrubbed (or skin-off up to you) cut into similarly 1/2 inch shoe-strings (a minimum of 1/4 inch is the thinnest I'd go, I suppose it might be too thin)
Seasonings & Dry Batter
Oil; Olive
Salt & Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Onion Powder
Asam Boi Powder ~ perfect with guava!
Starch - I use Sweet Potato Flour : gah! case of dipping chicken in egg batter!
Roasted Garlic Aioli with Ulam Raja
Garlic; Whole - roasted whole til browned, then hulk-smash
Yolk & Oil & Juice ~ aka Mayonnaise. I started late, so I had to make do with el-cheapo packeted un
Kalamansi; Juice of 1 - decided to change it a bit
a bit of Olive Oil to further smooth it a bit
Ulam Raja; Chopped - a few sprigs chopped up and folded into once the mayo has set/chilled
Prep Time : 20 mins or so Cook Time : 10,15 mins depends on how many batches, really
Wash Up Time : oh, pretty messy doughy and oily! oh my
Satisfaction Level : Yes, yay high, killing 3 cravings under an hour's playing around the kitchen.
How-To Steps
1. (I am not going to list out the usual pre-heat oven/toaster/car/ etc here) Wash and prep the tatters, peel off if you have to. With a proper knife you should be able to cut it to 1/2 inches, then proceed to split those again lengthwise 1/2 inches to individually thick fries. Whenever you get to parts that will result in short and stubby fries,..well it generally falls to you on how to cut em up.
From here, I split them into groups of 3 (well, a group of 2 in this instance : 2/3 of them in a pile for Frying, and the 1/3 for Baking) with similar pieces by color. Toss about with some oil.
From here, I split them into groups of 3 (well, a group of 2 in this instance : 2/3 of them in a pile for Frying, and the 1/3 for Baking) with similar pieces by color. Toss about with some oil.
2.
Bake ~ Line the pieces on the tray, making sure it is somehow oiled I might add. I didn't salt these for I wanted these to be plain and boringly baked (teehee, bias much?)
Fry (1) ~ Over an ever ready pot of oil, fry half of the potatoes for <5 minutes to a nice golden brown. Those fries lesser than 1/2 inches should be done under 3 minutes. Whisk/Net/Chopstick these out and season with pinches of Salt, Pepper & Paprika for the Mat Salleh fries.
Fry (2) ~ Spoon some Starch on a plate/container and add in a few pinches of Salt, Onion Powder, Pepper. Mix them well. Dust and coat the remaining fries and proceed to fry for <5 minutes for a crispy golden brown finish. This batch should be sprinkled generously with Asam Boi Powder for some Taiwanese fries.
3. This step should've been number 1, since I made them earlier. The Garlic Mayo.
Roast the garlic, pulverise or blend whichever you may fancy, fold in the mayo (or DIY mayo, I ain't gonna judge) the juice and seasoning. Leave it to chill and socialize and marry. Prior to serving, pop into the garden and pick whichever you have in excess to rough chop it up and mix into the mayo.
4. Plate up and Sweet Potatoes.... Assemble!
Okay, next up, November Update where I need to crack my lo-memory state and try to figure out things from my monthly transfer of phone pictures to the camera roll...but I have a sneaky feeling I might not have that many worthwhile pictures other than the Ipoh family camp... oh my..
Well, I guess I could do the CW DCU's crossover event episode 1 first in the meantime. Go Flash!
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