The Art of Deep Fat Frying: A Guide to Creating Delicious and Crispy Delights

As Chef/Owner of Dirt Candy, I'm excited to share with you the art of deep fat frying. This cooking technique is not just about tossing food into hot oil; it's a science that requires attention to detail, the right ingredients, and a bit of creativity.

The secret ingredient in our Korean Fried Broccoli recipe is vodka. Yes, you read that right! A half cup of cheap vodka may seem like an unusual addition, but trust me, it makes all the difference. The vodka helps prevent gluten from forming in the batter, resulting in a light and flaky texture. We mix the vodka with cornstarch, flour, salt, and baking powder to create a batter that's both crispy and delicate. After 15 minutes of resting, we're ready to add our broccoli florets to the batter.

When it comes to deep frying, temperature is crucial. You need to know exactly what temperature your oil is at to achieve the perfect crispiness. We use a thermometer to ensure our oil reaches the ideal temperature. Unlike sautéing food in a pan with oil, which can be unhealthy due to excess oil absorption, deep fat frying is a much healthier option. The batter protects the food inside from direct heat, allowing it to steam and cook evenly.

Our Korean Fried Broccoli recipe begins with tossing the broccoli florets into the batter. We want to create a crispy exterior while maintaining a tender interior. To achieve this, we pull the fried broccoli out of the oil just before it reaches its desired color. This ensures that the food doesn't overcook and becomes too dark.

Next, we move on to our Kitchen Sink Salad recipe. For this dish, we use a Panko batter made from Japanese Wonder Bread crumbs. Panko is a key ingredient in many Asian-style fried dishes, providing a light and airy texture. We toss our pickles, carrots, oranges, cucumbers, onions, arugula, and lettuce into the batter, making sure to coat each piece evenly. The key to successful deep frying is having a wet hand and a dry hand; we use one at a time for each ingredient to prevent oil absorption.

The secret to our Kitchen Sink Salad recipe lies in its lack of excess oil. We make sure to absorb as much oil as possible from the ingredients before battering them. This approach ensures that our fried salad is crispy on the outside and fresh on the inside. To achieve this, we place the battered ingredients on paper towels to drain any remaining moisture.

For dessert, we take a different approach altogether. Our deep-fried chocolate bars are frozen and require a thick, crunchy coating to prevent them from melting during frying. We mix flour, eggs, and bread crumbs together for the batter, ensuring it adheres perfectly to the chocolate. The egg acts as a glue, binding the ingredients together.

When it comes to deep frying desserts, timing is everything. We want the outside to be crispy while keeping the chocolate inside intact. To achieve this, we toss our frozen chocolate bars into the hot oil for a minute or two before removing them. This ensures that the chocolate melts just enough to coat the exterior.

The final result of our deep fat fryer creations is nothing short of perfection. The Korean Fried Broccoli, Kitchen Sink Salad, and deep-fried chocolate bars are all crispy on the outside and deliciously tender on the inside. With a bit of creativity and attention to detail, you too can master the art of deep fat frying and create mouthwatering dishes that will impress even the most discerning palates.

As I often say, "There's nothing better than food cooked in the deep fat fryer." The combination of crispy textures, flavors, and aromas is truly unbeatable. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner cook, I encourage you to experiment with this technique and discover the joy of deep fat frying for yourself.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThe trick, what makesthis delicious is vodka.So it's about a halfof cup of the cheapestvodka you can find.You do not have to usegood vodka for this.I wouldn't recommenddrinking this,unless you'realready drunk.I'm Amanda Cohen, theChef/Owner of Dirt Candy,and today,I'm gonna teach you allabout deep fat frying.The first thing I'm gonnabe making is one ofthe appetizers that weserve at the restaurant.It's our Koreanfried broccoli.We batter the broccoliin a vodka batter,and then it'sdeep fried andtossed in a spicyKorean sauce.First thing we're gonnado is toss the broccoliin our batter andthe batter is made up ofa half a cup ofcorn starch, halfa cup of flour,about a teaspoon of salt,a teaspoon ofbaking powder.You're going to mixthis all together,add in about half a cupof seltzer, super cold.You do not have to usegood vodka for this,it doesn't addany flavor.What it actually doesis it doesn't allow anygluten to form,which makes for a reallyflaky batter and then youwanna hydrate the flour.So we are going to let itsit for about 15 minutes.So, we've let the battersit for about 15 minutesand we are ready to addour broccoli to it.Hardier vegetablescan take a muchlighter batter.They don't needto be as coated.And they're readyto be fried.When you're gonnastart frying at home,the first thing you haveto have is a thermometer.You have to know whattemperature the oil is.Deep fat frying isalmost as healthy assauteing somethingin a pan with oil.The oil is really hotthat you're putting yourfood into, andwhen it has a batter,the batter is protectingthe food inside.The food is steaming.So if you were gonnameasure how much oil wasleft in a pot afteryou deep fry,versus how much wasthere when you started,you would see that it wasactually look the same,it would be like a coupleof tablespoons different.So this is Korean sauce,there's sesame oil,Korean paste, Tamari,lots of garlic andlots of ginger.If you wanted tomake this at home,you could definitelydo this with Sriracha,or Frank's, oreven Tabasco anda little bit of butter.All of that wouldbe delicious.When you're frying,you wanna pull things outjust before they're atthe color you ultimatelywant them to be.So if you're looking forsomething dark brown,you kinda want to pullthem out when they'rejust at the tailend of beingbrown because they'regonna keep cooking.I'm trying to getthe sauce into as many ofthe nooks and crannies ofthe broccoli as possible.We finish this off witha garlic sesame oil sauceand scallions andsome sesame seeds.It's not as our Koreanfried broccoli.The next thing is ourKitchen Sink Salad.We have some pickles,For this, we're gonnause a Panko batter,which is basically justJapanese Wonder Breadthat they makeinto bread crumbs.One thing you want whenyou're deep frying is youwant a wet hand anda dry hand.I'm not gonna mixthe two hands.That way, I can at leastkeep one hand clean.And I have someshredded carrots,because these are sosmall, you don't need togive them a big batter.So we're just gonnatoss them in a littlebit of corn starch.The other thing we'rejust gonna toss ina little bit ofcorn starch,are these orangesegments.They're a little wet,they fry super fast,so I just need to adda tiny bit of corn starchto them.They're are lots ofdifferent kinds ofbatters you can usewhen you're frying.You just haveto be smart andchoose the right one forthe vegetable ora piece of meat or fruit,whatever your frying.Okay, so first we'lldo the pickles.So you can see comparedto the broccoli,there's a lot morebubbles happening herebecause the cucumbers,the pickles have somuch more water in themthan broccoli does.How long do you wantthe picklesHow long do you wantthe pickles tosit in there?It's the same asthe broccoli,it's once theyget a color.Cucumbers and onions andarugula and lettuce.Just gonna add ina little olive oil,lemon, salt.Add into a nice base.We try not to give youa whole plate of deepfried food but if we cangive you a little bit ofcrispy crunchiness,it's really gonna add toyour enjoymentof the dish.Unlike with the broccoli,I wanted to put thatextra oil in the sauce.With this, I actuallywant to take away as muchof the oil as possible.That's why you put itin the paper towel.See how much oil'sleft on the towel.So next the oranges.There's a lot of waterin the oranges, right?It's orangejuice basically.There's gonna bea lot of bubbling andyou'll see it if Ido it from up high.Cuz people are afraid,right?They don't want to gettoo close, so they go andthat's when they getthe oil popping out andthat's how youburn yourself.So the closer you canget your fingers withoutputting your fingersin the oil the better.This I'm not actuallylooking for color.I'm just looking toget a little bit ofcrispiness onthe outside.That's it, done.And then finally, forour last vegetable,our carrots.Now we have a little bitof ranch dressing toput on top andthat's a Kitchen SinkSalad at Dirt Candy.And finally,we're gonna batterour chocolate bars.Frying isn't just forsalads,you can have it fordesserts.The chocolate barsare already frozen butthey do need a thickbatter on the outside.Chocolate melts, right?So we have to givethem an encasing oryou'll have a very,very messy fryer.So, flour, eggs,and bread crumbs.It's actually likea pretty traditionaldessert at fish andchip shops in England,so I cannot sayI invented it.This is gonna showthe wet dry hand.It can only do one ineach one of these,one at a time.So dry hand, wet hand.Toss.Into the egg.And then we putthe final coating.All you're doing withthe egg is just tryingto get the fooda little wet sothat the drysticks to it.Egg basicallyacts like a glue.That's it.I'm gonna put theseback in the freezer, sothey can getfrozen again,and then I'm readyto deep fry.So now we have dessert.With these whatyou want to do is,you're just looking foran outer shellthat's dark becauseif you let it sit fora minute or two,the chocolate will melt.You don't need thechocolate to melt whileit's deep frying.There's no chocolate barsthat we fry that haven'ttasted delicious.There is no food thatdoesn't taste better inthe deep fat fryer.So, this is yourcompletely fried meal.We have ourKorean Fried Broccoli.We have our Kitchen SinkDeep Fried Salad and fordessert, we have our deepfried chocolate bars.There's nothing better.\n"