What is the best variety of potato to make French fries? The experts answer

Peruvians like to eat and that is possible thanks to the more than 3,500 varieties of potato that exist in Peru. In addition to the popular yellow and white, others such as black, huamatanga, bull’s blood, huayro and perricholi, among others, are distinguished by their external characteristics (shape, size, skin color, etc.), and internal (color, texture, flavor). Until 2020, more than 700,000 families lived from their cultivation in 19 producing regions (among them Cusco, Huancavelica, Puno and Cajamarca. One way to taste them at their best is the French fries; but there are some that will be better in this presentation. Here are the tips from the experts.

Heine Herold, from Pollos Guapos, shares his favorites:

• Huamantanga (the one they use in poultry) because it has a lot of flavor (with a touch of sweetness), it is very crunchy and it does not become bitter or oxidize.
• Ambo and tumbay for their quality, because they are good to fry with the shell and their great flavor.
• Single potato: it is the most common in poultry shops because it is yielding and large.

For his part, Hugo de Armero, from the Nomad restaurant, recommends:

• Canchán and perricholi due to their structure, do not tend to fall apart. When frying them, they come out crispy and soft in the center.
• Yellow that considers the star when it comes to frying.

Freshness, hardness and a good size are the chefs’ common recommendations. A medium to large potato will provide good sized sticks and maximum yield.

If the potato is soft, it means that it is aged and closer to rotting, “although there are people who prefer it that way because it develops a little more flavor,” explains Herold. He also recommends buying them already processed; that is, washed and dried.

De Armero advises checking that the potatoes do not have dents. One can check its ripeness if, when peeled, it has no green edges. Otherwise it will be missing longer and will not taste good. In the case of the yellow potato, he suggests looking for ones without many eyes.

Heine Herold shares the preparation they use at Pollos Guapos. After washing the huamantanga potatoes, they are peeled (leaving a percentage of the skin), cut and submerged in water to remove some of the starch (it can prevent them from being crunchy). They are dried and go through a first frying at 150°C for 6 minutes. They are kept or cooled. Then they go through a second frying at the same temperature, to continue removing the water from the tuber, and it remains crispy for longer.

While Nomad’s chef suggests being careful with your oil, choose one that’s light or pale yellow in color. As for the canes, she recommends that they be 1 cm. thick and 5 cm. long. At the time of frying, he also comments that they go through two times of frying: the first with a temperature between 120 ° C and 150 ° C and the second rise to 175 ° C to obtain the crust on the outside. “That way we get a crispy potato on the outside and soft on the inside,” says De Armero.