Deep Fried. . . What?

December 2, 2006 11:51 AM

What Should I Bring to the Deep Frying Party?

My friend who owns a used restaurant equipment business has a party every year. He fires up three or four industrial sized deep fryers and guests are invited to fry the delicacy of their choice. People usually bring bags of frozen stuff and it's all good (can anything fried be bad, really?) but this year I want to bring something really. . . unique. Unique, yet edible. Disgusting, yet delicious. Peculiar, yet palatable. So I turn naturally to the hive mind. What should I fry this year? Bonus points for things that are fairly easy & quick to prepare - this party is in about 7 hours.

posted by mygothlaundry to food & drink (57 answers total)

How about deep fried Coke?
posted by nitsuj at 11:53 AM on December 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

frozen mars/snickers/milky way bars, wrapped in tortillas. pickles, halved or quartered and rolled in crushed-up rice krispies. oreos straight-up.
posted by sonofslim at 11:57 AM on December 2, 2006

Is a Deep Fried Mars Bar too obvious? How about Deep-Fried Ice Cream?
posted by Paragon at 11:58 AM on December 2, 2006

Fried twinkies?
posted by monju_bosatsu at 11:58 AM on December 2, 2006

deep fried pizza?
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 12:02 PM on December 2, 2006

Also, hotdogs wrapped in bacon and fried are quite good.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:02 PM on December 2, 2006

Another vote for pickles.
posted by padraigin at 12:10 PM on December 2, 2006

A friend of mine once requested that his hamburger be deep fried, by all accounts (his) it was delicious.
posted by Science! at 12:14 PM on December 2, 2006

Here's 14 of 'em
posted by Science! at 12:15 PM on December 2, 2006

You should bring me.

Or, alternately, tofu (ideally breaded a la the Thai-restaurant appetizer), asparagus spears, whole cloves of garlic (maybe roasted beforehand, if you've got time), shish kebabs...
posted by box at 12:17 PM on December 2, 2006

in college, one of my roommates got a deep frier for christmas, and for a couple months we would
1)make a list of stuff to deep fry on the fridge over a week
2)deep fry all the shizz on the list that wednesday

some of our favorites were:
battered pizza, just thaw a frozen one, fold it in half, to prevent cheese leakage
swiss cake rolls
hot pockets
frozen burritos
buiscuits (from the can, sugar afterward for awesome donuts)
posted by wuzandfuzz at 12:19 PM on December 2, 2006

Prawn crackers or krupuk are dead easy to make, lots of fun and require no preparation. Just put them in the hot oil, watch them puff up (fun!) and make sure they don't get too brown. Taste and consistency is similar to rice crackers, just slightly more savory and flavorful. They're fairly common and inexpensive at Asian grocery stores.
posted by gimonca at 12:19 PM on December 2, 2006

Fried Moon Pies
posted by growabrain at 12:21 PM on December 2, 2006

Those frozen burritos you get at the grocery store? Delicious when deep fried.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:35 PM on December 2, 2006

Fried Oreos are simply awesome (as evidenced by the number of people who'll pay $7-8 for 5 of 'em on the boardwalk here).
posted by CrayDrygu at 12:36 PM on December 2, 2006

Make strips of red peppers, green peppers, and carrots. Dip in the beer batter recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Easy peasy and excellent finger food.

Another item that's really quite easy is the deep fried onion. I believe this is the recipe I've used in the past. The hardest part is cuting the onion properly. It looks pretty impressive when you get it right.

I would avoid any of the chocolate-based items, as that's really tricky to master. Nine out of ten you just end up ruining your oil.
posted by eamondaly at 12:40 PM on December 2, 2006

Baby octopus.
posted by Wet Spot at 12:45 PM on December 2, 2006

Green beans coated in beer or tempura batter and fried are awesome. Dip them in horseradish mayo or, heck, even some ranch dressing. So good.
posted by mostlymartha at 12:52 PM on December 2, 2006

Butter.
posted by bac at 12:52 PM on December 2, 2006

Sweet Potato Sticks. Shake a mixture of sugar and cinamon over them when just out of the fryer. Serve immediately.

Stuffed jalapeno peppers. Stuffed with cheddar cheese or cream cheese. Absolutely the best.
posted by JayRwv at 12:56 PM on December 2, 2006

Perogies

Risotto. (Make a good mushroom risotto the day before. Form leftovers into balls around small chunks of buffalo mozzarella. Flour, egg, bredcrumb, deep fry. Die of gastronomic delight.)
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:57 PM on December 2, 2006

*cinnamon
posted by JayRwv at 12:59 PM on December 2, 2006

Slices of pineapple. Dredge with cinnamon sugar. These are sold as "pineapple fritters" with fish and chips in my country,
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:10 PM on December 2, 2006

(you have to batter the pineapple first of course.)
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:11 PM on December 2, 2006

Disgusting, yet delicious.

Durrian? Not sure if it's available where you live -- especially given the time constraints you cited -- but it would be an interesting experiment.

Sounds like a cool and innovative idea for a party.
posted by jason's_planet at 1:13 PM on December 2, 2006

Those biscuits that come in a cardboard can? Fried? Nick said they were when he had them at a restaurant near us, and he said he wouldn't have known what they were if he hadn't seen them do it.
posted by bilabial at 1:32 PM on December 2, 2006

Sopapillas, the kind they make in New Mexico. They put a basket on the table in the restaurants, fresh out of the fryer, and by the time dinner gets there, nobody is hungry. It's fried bread that forms a puffy pillow, and you drip honey inside the pillow. It's Mexican really, but I've only had the Tex-Mex version.

Egg roll wrappers are good for all sorts of things, and you could wrap them in advance and put something they are not expecting in it. I used to use julienne strips of meat (or chunks of cheese), and veggies like long green beans or asparagus. Cooking thought for later: You can put leftover things in them and it tastes completely different. It's a good way to use up those things you only have a lilttle leftover, meat, chicken and veggies.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 1:32 PM on December 2, 2006

seconding i_am_joe's_spleen. It's the first thing I buy when I return to the homeland.
posted by gaspode at 1:37 PM on December 2, 2006

A variety of pungent cheeses.
posted by jamjam at 2:10 PM on December 2, 2006

Deepfried PB & J sandwich (or, alternatively, just PB&J dipped in batter and fried, minus the bread)
Deepfried Cadbury Eggs
Deepfried celery and peanut butter (I'm a bit of a peanut butter fiend)
Deepfried cheesecake
Deepfried (thick) milkshake

Okay...I realize you're going for something different, though. Let's brainstorm.

If you're in for a throwback to the ol' sorority days, how about deepfried Jello-shots?
Or you could go for some traditional Scottish fare: Deepfried haggis.
How about deepfried hot-mustard pretzels?
Or you could try and get rid of some condiments: What about deepfried ranch dip? BBQ sauce? Salsa? Caramel dip?
Since everyone's always talking about the taste explosion of ham with maple syrup, you could try that one.
Or, perhaps, a deepfried pancake with maple syrup drizzled on top.
Go all-out on bad health: Try deepfried fudge.
posted by duffell at 2:15 PM on December 2, 2006

A few days late for St. Andrew's day, but for variety, you could try a deep-fried haggis.
posted by insipidia at 2:17 PM on December 2, 2006

Other items to consider for the fryer:

Omelet
Pesto (either alone or on bowtie pasta?)
Nutella crepe
Fluffernutter (Do it!)
posted by duffell at 2:20 PM on December 2, 2006

paneer
posted by textilephile at 3:00 PM on December 2, 2006

I love fried tofu, but you have to drain it (do this ahead of time, by weighing it down on a cutting board sloping into the sink, to catch run-ff), cut it up, and preferably dredge it in something (cornstarch is the easiest to come by, but kudzu powder works great.)

Best with a honey/peanut/soy (some combo you like) sauce.
posted by cobaltnine at 3:08 PM on December 2, 2006

A lobster.
posted by bondcliff at 3:20 PM on December 2, 2006

Artichoke hearts, especially if you also bring a batter that has some garlic or onions in it.
posted by jet_silver at 3:36 PM on December 2, 2006

Scotch Eggs

Hard boiled eggs and sausage deep fried. How can you go wrong?
posted by sleepyflywheel at 3:58 PM on December 2, 2006

Scotch eggs.
posted by Opposite George at 4:09 PM on December 2, 2006

Sorry, sleepy - didn't preview!
posted by Opposite George at 4:10 PM on December 2, 2006

Softshell crabs. Mussles or clams. Tootsie rolls. Spaghetti or meatballs. Mushroom caps.
posted by The White Hat at 4:11 PM on December 2, 2006

I've never tried it, but deep fried battered marshmallows or deep fried battered caramel cubes sounds really good.
posted by necessitas at 4:12 PM on December 2, 2006

In Malaysia we have pisang goreng, or deep-fried banana - banana fritters basically. Slice them up, batter them, and fry. Yum.

Also seconding deep-fried icecream - double yum!
posted by divabat at 4:17 PM on December 2, 2006

Frozen White Castles.
posted by sourwookie at 4:54 PM on December 2, 2006

Not the most exotic, but still delicious: garbanzos fritos/ fried chickpeas. Just drain a can, fry them up, and sprinkle with salt and paprika. The most addictive fried snackfood I've ever had.
posted by twoporedomain at 5:50 PM on December 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

deep fried ice cream. You'll need a ligth batter and some panko bread crumbs.

Another vote for oreos. Make standard pancake batter but add an extra 1/2C sugar and 1.5 tsp vanilla. Cut back on the water so that it's thicker. It's divine.

For savory, coconut shrimp is pretty dang good. Again, start with pancake or tempura batter, add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne, substitute one lime's worth of juice for an equal amount of water. Start with clean dry shrimp, drege in flour, knock of the excess, dunk in batter, dunk in shredded coconut, deep fry until golden brown and delicious.

You might also try deep frying chocolate covered cherries (again in a thick batter).
posted by plinth at 6:12 PM on December 2, 2006

(a) onion bhaji -- these are phenomenal and phenomenally easy.
(2) origami cranes norly.
posted by dorian at 6:16 PM on December 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

Irish-type places always have some sort of deep-fried sandwich that looks like a heart attack on a plate but also like it's really good.
posted by dagnyscott at 6:23 PM on December 2, 2006

Dumplings. If you're going for exotic, dumplings with exotic filling. Go to a Chinese grocery and see what they've got premade and frozen.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:02 PM on December 2, 2006

How about deepfrying a whole live cow?
posted by growabrain at 8:15 PM on December 2, 2006

Green olives stuffed with Gorgonzola.
posted by Jesco at 11:27 PM on December 2, 2006

For both disgusting and peculiar + delicious, try Chicken Fried Bacon with Cream Gravy.
posted by LadyBonita at 2:01 PM on December 3, 2006

Avacado tempura, they have it at Nobu it's probably one of the best things I've ever eaten.
posted by lannanh at 2:46 PM on December 3, 2006

I almost forgot Deep Fried Spinach Leaves. Just briefly deep fry plain spinach leaves or some other herb. It comes out crackly delicious but you have to carefully monitor the progress from limp to crispy to burnt.

I had this at Wolfgang Puck's first Spago (opened 1982) back he before became a marketing and franchise company. There it was very salty and I thought the salt was involved in some mysterious cooking process.

I later found out how simple it is to make and that the salt is added afterwards (to taste).
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:50 PM on December 3, 2006

So how did it go, MGL?

What did you fry? What did your friends fry?
posted by jason's_planet at 12:13 PM on December 4, 2006

My friends fried nice tempura-y stuff & sweet potato fries and were generally uninspired (although they also came up with a Lowcountry Boil that rocked) but I, I had to fry this. And these. And god help me, it looked like this.

And I got deathly ill the next day and stayed that way through Tuesday, but we will never know whether that was all the beer, or the deep fried things, or the flu that's going around, or some horrible combination of all of the above. We do know, however, that it will be a long, long, long time before I eat anything fried again.
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:15 PM on December 6, 2006

I love how horrible the idea of a party centred on deep-frying and alcohol sounds. I would kill for an invite
posted by leftoverboy at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2006

who's this dude from the party?
posted by growabrain at 12:42 AM on December 7, 2006