Pretty much the only choice of side when it comes to making a plate of loaded ground beef gyros is a pile of Greek fries. Crispy, golden, and tossed with oregano, garlic, and lemon zest (and even sometimes a little crumbled feta), these munchies are staples in any Mediterranean diet, but it can be a little tricky to pull off the crunch factor at home. Whether the plan is to fry or bake your fries, Peter Lipson, the executive chef of Gus and Marty’s in Brooklyn, New York, says that in addition to choosing the right potato variety, the one step you should never forget in the process of making Greek fries is soaking the potatoes. “My favorite potato to use is Yukon golds and let them soak for 10 minutes,” he said. “This is the best way to get a crispy outside and soft interior.”
Soaking potatoes to make Greek fries is done not because the potatoes are dirty (though it is a kind of washing), but because you want to remove as much excess starch as possible, which is released when the potatoes are cut. Without soaking, the outside of the fries get brown much faster, and the surface won’t be as crispy without cooking them to the point of being almost burnt.
Longer soaking and parboiling will make extra crispy fries
A quick soak is the bare minimum if you want crunchy Greek fries, but there are more steps you can take to get legitimately crispy french fries at home. Peter Lipson recommends trying a longer soak. “Let your potatoes soak overnight in water with a little vinegar,” he said, adding that parboiling the pieces before they’re fried helps as well. Vinegar helps inhibit the breaking down of pectin in the potatoes, ultimately preventing mushy fries; just be sure to rinse the potatoes before parboiling.
If you’re deep frying the fries, plan to dip them twice in the hot oil. The first fry evaporates the water molecules bound to the starch on the surface of the fries. After a quick rest, the second fry cooks the potatoes to make them golden and crunchy. Start with cold oil and then cook them around 325 to 360 degrees Fahrenheit using a neutral oil or another fat with a high smoke point. Lipson prefers canola, but you can use avocado or corn oil, or even beef tallow. Olive oil, however, is the most popular choice in Greece, so if you want to make fries just like your Greek yaya, go for a good virgin olive oil and keep the heat below 375 degrees Fahrenheit. As for keeping Greek fries crunchy after they’re cooked, Lipson says there’s only one way: “Eat them quickly.”
