Potato Wedges with Sour Cream and Chili Sauce

If you're looking for a warm snack or a side dish for a good hamburger, these deep fried potato wedges make a nice replacement for the regular French fry. They're relatively simple to make and cook up pretty quickly.

Popular in Australia, this dish is served with sour cream and a sweet Thai chili sauce. When I'm ready to clean out my sinuses, that's great. On other days, I prefer to make my own super secret fry sauce recipe.

Ingredients

1 medium potato per serving
salt as needed
oil for deep-frying as required

Equipment Needed

cutting board
pan for deep frying
kitchen knife
mixing bowl
colander
heat resistant slotted spoon or small strainer
large plate
paper towels

Directions

Wash the potatoes, leaving the peels on. Cut the potatoes into wedges, about 3/4 inch thick on the outer edge.

Put the potato wedges into a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for 2-3 minutes. This will remove excess surface starch and will result in a crisper potato.

Move the potato wedges to a colander and drain. Lay out some paper towels and put the potatoes on them in a single layer. Pat them dry. If there's any water on them when they get put into the hot oil, the oil will spit out of the pan and you may end up with a nasty burn.

A few years ago, this actually happened to me. I'll never make that careless mistake again. Trust me. I had small, painful burn marks on my face for a week, and the family photos to prove it. I looked like a guy with mutated acne.

Put out a plate and line it with a couple of paper towels. You'll use this plate to receive the potato wedges after they're fried. The paper towels will help absorb any excess oil.

Pour enough oil into a pan to just cover the potatoes. Place it over medium heat, heating it to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don't have a thermometer, drop a bread crumb in the oil. If if sinks about halfway before returning the to surface and sizzling, the oil's hot enough.

Using a heat resistant slotted spoon or small mesh strainer, put the potato wedges into the hot oil, one at a time so they don't stick together. Don't put too many potatoes in the oil at the same time. That will drop the temperature of the oil too much, and you'll end up with a greasy mess instead of a crispy fried potato. It's better to cook them in batches. Deep-fry until they start to turn golden brown.

Using the slotted spoon or strainer, remove the potatoes from the oil, letting the excess oil drip back into the pan, place them on the plate covered with paper towels. Immediately sprinkle a pinch of salt over the hot potatoes. If you wait, the salt won't stick to them.

Serve with sour cream and sweet Thai chili sauce, fry sauce, or any other dipping sauce you like. My wife likes to dip them in Ranch dressing.