To make this dish, you’ll need a mandoline, which is a hand-operated slicing appliance with assorted blades for thick to thin slicing. A metal kitchen utensil known as a spider, which vaguely resembles a spider web with a long handle, is handy when frying because it lets you quickly remove hot food from the oil without removing much of the oil. It’s inexpensive and sold in most kitchenware shops. Soaking the julienned potatoes before cooking them removes some of the starch and yields a crisp shoestring effect.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6 to 8

　　3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled

　　2 quarts canola oil

　　Kosher salt to taste

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

　　

Step 2

Fit the mandoline with the thin julienne blade. Slice the potatoes lengthwise with the mandoline and place them in a bowl of cold water to remove the starch. Let them soak in the water for about 20 minutes. You want the potatoes to be in very thin slices so that they will cook quickly and emerge nice and crisp. I find that the food processor breaks up the julienne too much, so I don’t recommend it.

　　

Step 3

Drain the potatoes in a colander. Spin them in a salad spinner to ensure that they are really dry. It is important to dry them well so the oil doesn’t splatter during the frying process.

　　

Step 4

Heat the canola oil in a heavy-bottomed deep 4-quart pot, or a deep fryer, until it reaches 350°F on a food thermometer.

　　

Step 5

Using a frying basket or a long-handled spider utensil, carefully lower about 2 cups’ worth of the potatoes into the hot oil. Fry for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the potatoes every minute or two with a slotted spoon or the spider so that they brown evenly.

　　

Step 6

When the potatoes are golden brown, less than 10 minutes, remove them from the oil with the slotted spoon or spider. Drain very well on paper towels.

　　

Step 7

To keep the potatoes warm while you cook the rest of the batch, put them on a paper towel–lined baking sheet, cover with paper towels, and hold in the oven. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

　　

Step 8

Season with salt before serving.

　　Bubby’s Brunch Cookbook by Ron Silver and Rosemary Black. Copyright © 2009 by Ron Silver and Rosemary Black. Published by Ballantine Books. All Rights Reserved.