Deep fryer recipes?

June 23, 2008 6:40 AM

Either because she loves me, or because she wants me to die early, my lovely wife bought me a deep fryer! What are your favorite recipes that end in “…deep fry until golden brown.”? I’m especially looking for recipes for fish and chips and tempura, but anything else will be appreciated.

Please note I’m not looking for ideas for novelty items like deep fried Kit Kats, pizza or beer. I’m looking for deep fryer recipes; I’m not just looking to deep fry other recipes.

Home made pu-pu platter? Buffalo wings? Calimari? Bring it on! General deep frying tips are also welcome.

posted by bondcliff to food & drink (29 comments total)

Pakore. I made a huge batch this weekend, so it's kinda on my mind. Also, I'm kinda stuffed.
posted by sa3z at 6:56 AM on June 23, 2008

I don't have any specific recipes, but I would suggest tracking down the Good Eats episode on deep frying. Alton Brown shows you how to fry so that the food absorbs very little grease. Proper technique will render tasty fried food that is not much worse for you than the same foods cooked with other techniques.
posted by COD at 7:03 AM on June 23, 2008

More fried threads: 1, 2
posted by nitsuj at 7:07 AM on June 23, 2008

Korokke! They make winter in Japan bearable!

You make yourself some mashed potatoes (preferably real, but in a pinch the more realistic the instant stuff the better), season them with some salt and pepper, maybe some corn, until they're delicious of their own merit, and refrigerate until workable.

Then you pull the big bowl of potatoes out of the fridge. Prepare three bowls: put flour into one, some beaten egg into another, and some panko bread crumbs into the third (you can get panko at most decent grocery stores, either in the "international foods" aisle or with flour and bread crumbs if they're cool like that).

Grab a lump of potatoes and form it roughly into a small disc a bit smaller than the palm of your hand (but with roughly the same proportions), dip it into the flour, then dip that into the egg wash, and then finally coat with panko. Deep fry until it floats, and then wait for 30-60 seconds more. Because the panko will cook faster than the rest, you're actually waiting until it's a bit darker than golden brown — sort of like a deep, rich brown. Some experimentation should help you get it down pat.

Only downside: they don't keep that well, owing to their nature as fried foods, but on the upside they can be reheated in a toaster oven and still be reasonably good. For all practical purposes, however, leftover korokke are rarely a concern.
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:10 AM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Toasted Ravioli
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:17 AM on June 23, 2008

Deep Fried Oreos

Whenever I get out the fryer, I make some of these artery cloggers. Basically, you need a doctored pancake batter: add a handful of sugar and a teaspoon vanilla to a typical batch of pancake batter, cutting the water down a little bit to give you a thick batter.

Dunk, fry until GBD. Drain on a rack and dust with powdered sugar.
posted by plinth at 7:19 AM on June 23, 2008

I just made some batter-fried tialpia that came out great.

Cut tilapia or your favorite white fish into chunks.

Teetotaler's beer batter:
(Adjust amounts depending on how thick or thin you want your batter.)
1 cup Bisquick
1 egg
1/2 cup ginger ale (or 7 Up)
Seasonings (you can use plain old salt and pepper, but I use Johnny's Seasoning Salt. Don't be afraid to be genorous.)

Mix it all up. It doesn't need to be very thick, so add more ginger ale as needed.

Dust your fish in dry Bisquick, then dunk in the batter, letting the excess drip off. It only takes 2 or 3 minutes as long as the fish is not more than an inch and half thick or so. When it's a good, deep golden brown, it's done. Drain on a rack or paper towel.

Squeeze some lemon on it as you eat it, and you won't mind dying early.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:24 AM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

For your chips don't peel the potatoes and then double fry them.
posted by ninebelow at 7:40 AM on June 23, 2008

Crispy aromatic duck. Deep frying is just the last stage - you have to season the bird for 24 hrs and then steam it for 2 hours. So it's quite a performance but when you get it right and it's as good as your favourite Chinese restaurant the feeling of achievement and satisfaction is extraordinary.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 7:44 AM on June 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

“Best answers” are the types of things I’m looking for, please keep ‘em coming. Mr. Brilliant, that duck recipe is perfect.
posted by bondcliff at 7:50 AM on June 23, 2008

The one and only truly belgian fries

These are absolutely amazing. Frying them twice is the key, and what makes them different from run-of-the-mill fries. Make sure you have your people gathered 'round so you can eat them while they are hot. Oh, and small batches.
posted by Otis at 8:14 AM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Similar to DoctorFedora's korokke are my beloved sweet potato balls from S&S Cafeteria in my hometown. Recipe straight from the source available here. To really make it deluxe, our local cafeteria formed the sweet potato ball around a large marshmallow, which became a gooey hidden heart of pure love when it was cooked.
posted by ejvalentine at 8:19 AM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

A couple of days ago I made pizza fritta for the first time - made a batch of normal pizza dough recipe, then rolled out 'till ~8 inches wide and a couple of mm thick, then dropped straight into the hot oil - no rising time. Top with sauce/cheese/your usual toppings and finish off under the grill. These were absolutely fantastic and I'm pretty sure I will never make home-made pizza in the oven again. Make sure the oil is hot enough or they'll end up too greasy.
posted by primer_dimer at 8:35 AM on June 23, 2008

Heston Blumenthal's famous thrice-cooked chips.
posted by jack_mo at 8:49 AM on June 23, 2008

Ricotta fritters!
posted by Wet Spot at 8:52 AM on June 23, 2008

Corn on the Cob!

Some recipes call for batter or frozen corn, both of which are abominations. Good, fresh corn is a must, however, so you picked the right time of year to ask this. Also you can toss your favorite biscuits in the fryer instead of the oven. I'm getting dinner ideas as I type!
posted by TedW at 9:24 AM on June 23, 2008

Alton Brown's leftover Mac & Cheese deep fry is so simple and so insanely good that it hardly seems fair. On the off chance that your wife was mostly hoping for the early death scenario, I'd suggest you try these. At least you'll die happy.
posted by Lame_username at 10:13 AM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

I don't have many "deep-fry" recipes, specifically, but I'd recommend donuts and falafel. A great recipe for "kleinur", or Icelandic doughnuts (mmm ... cardamom-y). Great with coffee. There are a ton of falafel recipes out there, but this one has worked pretty well for me.

There's also "chiftele", a traditional Romanian meatball-type item, a recipe for which can be found here (I tend to substitute roughly-torn bread for the potatoes).
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 11:38 AM on June 23, 2008

Bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod croquettes) are awesome. They're Portuguese and delicious. They're a bit (OK a lot) more work than fish and chips but totally worth it.

Also southern-style hush puppies (aka fried corn bread balls, really).
posted by drmarcj at 11:58 AM on June 23, 2008

When I get a wild hair up and make a batch of tempura batter (it's pretty much this recipe minus the pepper), the first thing at hand is always a sliced raw sweet potato. Second and third are asparagus and shrimp. They're great by themselves or rolled.

Falafel can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you're ready to fire up the oil. There are tons of recipes out there, so my only advice is to use cumin and curry, and make a yogurt and cucumber dipping sauce.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 12:08 PM on June 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Get a good Spanish cookbook. You will quickly notice that nearly every recipe involves the step in question.

And speaking of Spanish, I second drmarcj above. Whether you call them bolinhos or croquettes, Spanish or Portuguese, they are awesome and totally worth a few hours and 1500 calories.
posted by Nothing at 12:57 PM on June 23, 2008

Gnocco fritto! With freshly-grated pecorino over it and thinly-cut prosciutto wrapped around it nom nom nom
posted by nicwolff at 1:10 PM on June 23, 2008

I third drmarcj's bacalhau rec. One of the first things I made when my wife got me my deep fryer. They also freeze really well, so you can prep a bunch, freeze what you don't want to use immediately, and then fry up a few straight from the freezer when ever you get a hankering for some salty crunchy fish goodness.

Also, stuffed fried green olives. Get regular pitted green olives, stuff with anchovy or blue cheese or capers or anything. Dip in lightly beaten egg white thinned with a teaspoon or so of water. Dip in all purpose flour, rice flour or stone ground corn meal. Fry until just golden. Serve with good beer.
posted by dchase at 2:55 PM on June 23, 2008

Crab rangoons, or pot stickers, or whatever you want to call them. There are some elaborate recipes out there, but I just mix up some cream cheese, scallions and crab meat, put a spoonful inside a wonton wrapper and seal the edges, and deep fry until golden brown.
posted by shopefowler at 2:58 PM on June 23, 2008

A friend with a deep fryer swears by the scotch egg. I've learned one thing about frying wings, which is to cut them properly (as shown in Step 4 here. Even better, have a butcher do it for you...
posted by knile at 3:25 PM on June 23, 2008

When I was a kid I loved to make rosettes. We used to have four different shapes of rosette irons, but the 8-pointed flower/star thing was my favorite. We only ever used powdered sugar on top; never tried the cinnamon-sugar approach, but I'm sure that's good too.

I have vivid memories of putting the rosette iron into the oil, waiting just a second or two for the batter to start frying and pull away from the iron, and pulling the iron out to dip it into the batter again.

Also - delicious.
posted by kristi at 5:33 PM on June 23, 2008

Southern US Korokke: Rice Croquettes:

Cook some rice. Mix in some Bearnaise or other white sauce and a few eggs. Chill well. With wet hands, shape into balls about egg sized or larger. Dip first into bread crumbs, then beaten eggs, then crumbs again. Fry until, you know.
Nice variations: Use Japanese panko bread crumbs. Include bits of lamb.
My brother is nuts for rice croquettes served with turkey gravy, but any fatty topping, especially butter, is great.
These work well fried an hour or more ahead and then aggressively reheated in a hot oven.
posted by Mngo at 8:36 PM on June 23, 2008

Carciofi all Guidia?
posted by Deathalicious at 10:17 PM on June 23, 2008

I have made a simple modification to beer batter that is worth noting : I use stout, and it gives the batter a very nice flavour.
posted by tomble at 1:47 PM on June 25, 2008