Friday, August 20, 2010

Steak Frites v1


First attempt - not bad...


This was the first time I'd ever deep fried anything. But, as a dedicated fries aficionado I thought it was best to prove I could make my own if I was going to continue deriding the quality of fries at bars and restaurants around town.


Here's how I did it. Note: this fed about 10 people and cost me about $20.

Prep the night before 
(you could do this on dinner night but there will already be a lot to concentrate on so get ahead)


6 Russet Potatoes 
* peel, and slice into evenly sized fries (mine were approx 1cm square)
* cover them in cold water with 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar and refrigerate



Flank steak - I cooked about 2kg of steak, a large flank steak about 10cm thick and a smaller one about 2cm thick (I was experimenting)
* Mix a marinade of crushed garlic, peanut oil, black peppercorns, salt, soy sauce and honey
* Put the steak and marinade in a ziplock bag and refrigerate


Not so hard so far... 


Dinner time


* Take out your meat so it warms to room temperature while you get started frying
* Drain and dry the fries (dry them as much as possible, it makes a big difference)
* Heat a wok with 6 cups of peanut oil. I cheated and didn't use a thermometer, urban legend has it that if you dip a wooden spoon or chopstick in the oil and tiny bubbles form all around the stick, it's go time
* Fry in small batches for approx 30-50secs, fries should come out blonde. Drain on a paper towel. You're going to fry them again so put them in the oven at 100 celsius
* Salt and pepper the outside of the steak and put it on a hot grill and cook medium rare. Rest the steak for 10minutes while you finish the fries
* Same as before but fry until they are golden brown this time and salt and pepper them immediately after they come out of the oil
* Slice the steak and serve everything while it's hot! preferably with horseradish sauce (mix prepared horseradish with mayonnaise or sourcream)




This was before I realised that putting fries into hot oil with TONGS is preferable to using  your hands




The best thing about slicing a large steak like this is you get a gradation of doneness from medium through to rare

Frites are done


The only problem is I ate them so fast I didn't take a picture of it all put together! next time....


2 comments:

  1. Yum!
    You deep-dried the potatoes in the wok? And how did the peanut oil work out - did it flavour the chips?

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  2. yup - the sides of the wok help avoid splattering and boiling over.... both of which sound dangerous!

    The Peanut oil has a high smoking point and the flavour was good!

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