So… I realized today that’s it’s been a month since my last post in February. My apologies! Been a bit busy I guess. Anywho, this week’s post is an appetizer inspired by a dish I had in Berkeley on Friday. After my ambulance externship with Berkeley Fire, I met up with a friend to try out this place called Joshuya Brasserie, which serves Japanese tapas and sushi. Side note: first time i saw the word brasserie, I thought it meant lingerie like Victoria’s Secret or something. Turns out, brasserie means brewery in french, so I was totally wrong. Anyways….this was overall a pretty dece place. An appetizer we ordered was the pomme frites which was pretty much duck fat fries with an Asian inspired aioli. Upon tasting it, I figured that it seemed pretty easy to make, so I set out to recreate it this weekend at home. The fries at the place were very savory and had a nice texture and flavor that put it eons ahead on the evolutionary scale of french fries. What sets it apart from the typical Mickey D’s fries is that 1) it was fried in duck fat 2) it was seasoned with salt and pepper and 3) it had an AIOLI dipping sauce (which everyone should know by now is my favorite thing). The sauce was a spicy aioli that had tones of Asian-ness to it such as garlic chilli and sesame oil. Already having all the ingredients at home, I set out to recreate this dish
The first step to creating the french fries or should I say pommes frites to sound sophisticated is render the duck fat. To make the duck fat, you can refer back to my previous article on duck fat, appropriately labeled Rendering Duck Fat. <=yes, that is a link you can click on. Once you have the duck fat, the rest is pretty easy and quick to make. I was able to finish this in less time than the 1st half of the Ohio State – Michigan State game this weekend. An ideal french fry is typically soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Most people try to accomplish this by double frying their fries. Frying them in medium heat the first round to cook the fry and then at a higher temp to make them crunchy. To save oil, I baked them in the oven for 15 minutes instead at 375F. This goes without saying, but I cut the fries into slivers before baking them in the oven. Once they are done baking, I take them out and sprinkle generous amounts of sea salt and black pepper. I then proceed to fry them in duck fat till golden brown. Once brown, I take the fries and let dry on paper. I then sprinkle on some more sea salt. It is important to add more salt onto the fries within the first few minutes out of the fryer. If not, the fries will not be able to to stick to the salt and incorporate the flavor to the fullest.
For the aioli, I decided to make my own spin on it because I realized when I opened the fridge that I was out of garlic chilli sauce or sriracha… Thus, I made a double layer dipping sauce (yea, that’s right! sounds sophisticated) But really, it isn’t. It’s just science. As depicted, the top layer of sauce is an aioli, while the bottom layer is pretty much soy sauce with a few modifications. To make the aioli, I mixed in a tablespoon of mayo, about 3 tablespoons of sesame oil (rather than olive oil), a few dashes of tabasco, 1 clove of garlic and 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce. I blended it until homogenous and poured into a shot glass (don’t worry, I’m not an alcoholic) For the darker colored sauce, I mixed soy sauce with sugar, cayenne, and 1/5 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar. The acidity from the vinegar should compliment the fatty aioli sauce. I then poured in the soy sauce mixture into the same shot glass. Interestingly, rather than mixing together, the layers stayed separate. This is due to the difference in densities and miscibility. The aioli is oily or hydrophobic, while the soy sauce is more hydrophilic. Thus, they do not mix together because only “like dissolves in like.” Also, surprisingly for me, the soy sauce was apparently denser than the aioli. As a result it sinks to the bottom. Fun fact, if you’re wondering if this looks very similar to something, it does. This aioli-soy sauce dipping sauce resembles a Baby Guinness. An alcoholic shot involving two parts Kahula, topped with Bailey’s. Usually this drink is reserved for St. Patty’s day… which actually happens to be today so… Cheers?!
To finish it off with plating, I wanted to add some green to it, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, so i sliced thinly so cucumbers and tossed in a minty garnish. Overall, this dish is great as an appetizer or served with your favorite beer!
“The shamrock is a religious symbol. St. Patrick said the leaves represented the trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s why four leaf clovers are so lucky, you get a bonus Jesus.” -Stephen Colbert
Ingredients:
- potato
- salt and pepper
- cayenne
- soy sace
- hoisin sauce
- garlic
- rice wine vinegar
- mayo
- sesame oil
- duck fat
- sugar
- tobasco
umami. 