Battered Steak Fries

This Battered Steak Fries recipe is an updated version of the Battered Fries recipe in my second ebook We Got Food at the House. I decided to do steak fries instead of normally-cut ones to lessen the amount of effort you’ll need to put into them. Not to be confused with potato wedges or JoJo fries – I already have a recipe for those! – these fries are made of thick-sliced potatoes, not triangular wedges or potato (except the edges). If you’re a stickler you’ll want to square off the potatoes rounded corners before you cut your fries, so they’re sharp rectangles. Me, I wasn’t about to waste an ounce of tater!

Battered Steak Fries Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Battered Steak Fries recipe:

• Russet potatoes: You need long potatoes to make decent steak fries. Steak fries are hefty, thick cut fries. If you can find long, slender yukon gold potatoes feel free to use those instead. I wouldn’t recommend another type, but I haven’t tried it so what do I know!
• Club soda: Regular water will work in a pinch, but club soda will add lift to our batter ensuring it’s not too thick and heavy. Too thick and our Battered Steak Fries won’t cook through before they’re done outside, and it can also many them gummy, so if you add regular water you might want to add an extra 1/4 cup or so.
• All-purpose flour, potato starch: You can use cornstarch in place of potato starch. You can use any flour you want in place of all-purpose – except like whole wheat or something super dense like that.
• Seasoned salt, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper: You can use whatever blend of seasonings you want, to be honest. Just make sure you add so much that you can taste (or smell, to be safe since raw flour can make you sick) it in the batter, and that the batter is a nice, deep orange color. I also added some annatto powder for that purpose.

How to Make Battered Steak Fries

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Battered Steak Fries recipe:

• Make the Steak Fries. Scrub your potatoes with a stiff brush – or peel them – and remove any eyes or bruises from the surface. Slice them in half, lengthwise, then lay the halves cut side down. If you want your steak fries to be rectangular, slice off the rounded top of each half (and find something to do with the extra potato, don’t just waste it!). Slice each half into thick slices – not too thick, or they won’t cook through, go for just under 1/4″ – and transfer them to a bowl of cold water. Continue until you’ve sliced all of your potatoes into fries.
• Prepare for Battered Steak Fries. Heat a large vessel of oil over medium-high heat until the oil is around 350°F. While the oil is coming to temp, make the batter for the Battered Steak Fries: in a mixing bowl add the flour, potato starch, seasoned salt, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne powder, and black pepper. Whisk them together, so the seasonings are evenly distributed. Next, pour in the club soda. Whisk vigorously until a lump-free batter has formed. It should be loose, similar to a gravy in consistency: it should coat the whisk before dripping off, and the sides of the bowl if you tilt it.
• Batter the Steak Fries. Lay out a couple of clean kitchen towels, or a layer of paper towels. Drain the water from your steak fries, and lay the fries down on the towels to dry. Use another kitchen or paper towel to blot the tops of the fries: we want them to be as dry as possible, or the batter will just slide off. If you’ve dried the potatoes and still are having issues with the batter sticking, toss the fries in some cornstarch or potato starch, then try again.
• Fry, robin, fry! Once the oil is at the desired temperature, add a few fries to the batter. Toss with tongs to coat them well, then add them one at a time to the oil, making sure to let the excess batter drip back down into the bowl before you add it to the oil. Allow each fry to sink and then rise back up in the oil before you add another one: this will avoid your fries sticking together. Add as many fries to the pan as can fit without bumping into each other too much. Fry the wedges until they’re golden brown, crispy and floating on top of the oil: about 7–11 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool while you continue frying the remaining steak fries. Make sure you allow the oil to come back to 350°F before starting each batch: cooled oil will make for tough fries. Serve fresh and hot! Dassit.

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