Beef dripping or lard (pork) is the ultimate chip cooking fat because it gives a crisper, tastier result. It tends to burn quicker than vegetable oil which is why we don't tend to use it in the restaurants and of course it’s not that veggie friendly so use vegetable or corn oil for a vegetarian version.
Ingredients
Allow 200-250g of potatoes per person
Pre-heat dripping, lard or vegetable oil
Method
1. Peel your potatoes, then for thick-cut chips, cut into 1cm slices then slice these into 1cm-wide chips. For allumettes (thin shoestring like chips) follow the same procedure, but cut them ½cm thick.
2. Wash the chips in water then drain on kitchen paper.
3. Place the chips in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for a couple minutes for allumettes and about 3-4 minutes for thick cut. Drain in a colander and leave to cool.
4. Pre-heat dripping, lard or vegetable oil to 120°C in a deep-fat fryer. Blanch your chips two or three handfuls at a time until they are soft but not coloured. Remove from the fat and drain. You can store the chips in this state in the fridge for up to a couple of days.
5. To serve the chips, re-fry them in hot fat (160-180°C) until they are crisp, season lightly with salt and serve immediately.