How To Make Triple Cooked Chips

Wondering how to cook triple cooked chips? This is the only recipe you need to nail these crispy-on-the-outside, pillowy-on-the-inside chippies. Enjoy!

Done in 4 hours

Serves 4-6

Dish by Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

What you'll need:

2 kgMaris Piper Potatoes

3 litres sunflower or rapeseed oil

Malt or white vinegarfine sea salt

Some people might question the need to cook chips three times, but they would be wrong. You see, there is something infinitely better about the triple cooked chip – it's just a simple fact. The triple cooked chip was invented by Michelin starred chef, Heston Blumenthal, so you already know you're onto a winner. To make them, you have to boil the potatoes first, then fry them twice. But let's break it down a little further...here's how to make triple cooked chips properly.

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut them into chips. A variety of sizes is good - some small ones are good as they'll crisp up nicely, buy try and keep them all the same width so they don't cook at wildly different times. While you are chipping, keep them in cold water to stop them from browning.

Fill a large bowl with cold water and wash the chips to remove as much starch as you can - this is the white stuff you can see coming off the potatoes. Removing this stops the potatoes becoming gluey and ensures a crisp light exterior crust.

Use a slotted spoon to place the chips in a large saucepan and pour over some fresh water. Season lightly with some sea salt and bring to a simmer. You're aiming to parboil the chips, not cook them through at this point - the edges should soften and begin to crumble but they shouldn't be falling apart.

Carefully remove the chips from the water and lay them on a baking tray. Allow them to steam dry, then wrap the tray in clingfilm and allow to cool in the fridge for roughly an hour.

When cooled, heat the oil to 130°C and fry the chips, in batches if necessary, until they are very lightly golden with a bit of a crust. Remove them and set them back on their baking tray to cool again for another hour.

Crank the oil up to 180°C. Time for the final third stage of your triple cooked chips! Fry the cooled chips in batches until crisp and golden on the outside, drain on some kitchen paper and serve as piping hot as you can, liberally drizzled with vinegar and sprinkled with fine sea salt.

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Hugh Woodward

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Hugh's culinary life began aged 14 when he cooked spaghetti hoop burritos to impress girls. Since then his colourful career has taken him to performing in Skegness, making cheese in Peckham, running a wine bar on Columbia Road and reluctantly working in a (briefly) Michelin Starred restaurant. He likes fish, things cooked on charcoal, cheap dinners and London's rich cultural tapestry of food shops. When he's not cooking or eating he can be found mudlarking by the river Thames, buying bits in flea markets and hanging out with his cat Keith.