Three cooks, hence the name, a simmer and two fries, but don’t let that put you off, because they don’t all happen at once. The simmer and the first fry can be done hours ahead, or even the day before, which leaves nothing for the night but a quick hot fry while everything else rests. The cracked, floury surface you get from simmering the chips almost to collapse is the whole secret: it’s what turns into that shattering glassy crust.
Yield and time
- Makes: serves 4
- Hands-on: about 40 minutes spread across the three cooks
- Total: best spread out, simmer and first fry ahead, hot fry at the last minute
Ingredients
- 1.2kg floury potatoes (Sebago, Russet or Maris Piper), peeled
- neutral oil for deep frying (enough to fill your pot a third to halfway)
- fine salt
A deep heavy pot, a stockpot is ideal, filled no more than halfway with oil, and a thermometer clipped to the side. No deep-fryer required.
Cut and rinse
Cut the potatoes into chips about 1.5cm square, chunky enough to stay fluffy inside. Rinse them under cold running water until it runs clear, washing off the surface starch that otherwise makes chips stick together and catch.
First cook: the simmer
Put the chips into a big pot of well-salted cold water, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook until they’re right on the edge of falling apart, surfaces cracked and floury, but the chips still just holding their shape. Twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the potato. This is the cook that does the inside; stop too soon and they’ll never go properly crisp.
Lift them out gently with a slotted spoon, they’re fragile now, onto a wire rack. Let them steam-dry, then slide the rack into the fridge, uncovered, for an hour (or the freezer for half that). A dry chip fries crisp; a damp one spits and softens.
Second cook: the first fry
Heat the oil to 130°C. Fry the chips in batches, crowd the pot and the temperature crashes, for 5-8 minutes, until a pale, dry crust has formed but they’ve taken no real colour. Back onto the rack, and back into the fridge or freezer to cool and dry again.
You can stop here hours ahead, or the day before. This is what makes triple-cooked chips no fuss on the night.
Third cook: the hot fry
Bring the oil up to 190°C. Fry the chips, again in batches, for 3-5 minutes until deep golden and properly crisp, they’ll rattle against each other and sound hollow. Drain on the rack for a few seconds, tip into a warm bowl, and salt generously straight away while they’re glossy.
Eat at once, while the crust still shatters.
A word on the stockpot: fill it no more than halfway with oil so it can’t boil over when the cold chips go in, keep the thermometer clipped on, and never leave hot oil unattended.