Wingstop Fries

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Two things separate these from ordinary chips, and neither is the potato.

They are fried twice, which is how you get a crisp shell around a fluffy middle rather than a chip that is either soggy or hard all the way through.

The seasoning contains sugar. That is the taste people cannot place — a sweetness underneath the salt that makes them oddly moreish. It also means the seasoning has to go on while the chips are hot enough for the sugar to dissolve slightly and stick.

Why two fries

The first fry, at 160°C, cooks the inside. The potato goes soft and starchy all the way through without the outside colouring much. This is not the crisping stage and it should not look impressive.

The second fry, at 190°C, builds the crust. The surface has already dried out during the first fry and the rest, so it dehydrates and hardens quickly instead of slowly leaking moisture.

The rest in between is not optional. At least ten minutes, and the surface needs to stop steaming. Straight from one fry to the next and you have just done one long fry.

Soaking the potatoes

Cut chips sit in cold water for at least 30 minutes to wash off surface starch. Left on, that starch gums up and gives you chips that stick together and colour unevenly.

Then dry them completely. Wet potato into hot oil is dangerous and it drops the oil temperature hard.

What you need

For the chips

• 1.4 kg floury potatoes (Maris Piper, russet), cut into 1 cm batons
• neutral oil for frying, about 2 litres

For the seasoning

• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Method

1. Cut the potatoes and soak in cold water 30 minutes minimum.
2. Drain and dry completely on a towel.
3. First fry: 160°C, 5–6 minutes. They should be soft and barely coloured.
4. Drain on a rack and rest at least 10 minutes, until they stop steaming.
5. Mix the seasoning ingredients together.
6. Second fry: 190°C, 2–3 minutes, until deep golden and crisp.
7. Drain briefly on the rack and season immediately, tossing in a bowl.

Season in a bowl, not on a tray

Chips shaken in a bowl with seasoning get coated on all sides. Chips sprinkled on a flat tray get seasoned on top only, and the seasoning that misses is wasted.

Do it within about fifteen seconds of them leaving the oil. That window is when the surface is hot and slightly oily enough for the sugar and salt to adhere.

Floury potatoes, not waxy

Floury varieties have more starch and less water, which is exactly what you want: the inside goes fluffy and the outside dries and crisps.

Waxy potatoes hold their shape and stay dense. They make a fine roast potato and a disappointing chip.

Storing

They do not store. Chips are a fifteen-minute food and reheating gets you a hard, oily version of what you had.

The first fry does store, though. Blanch a big batch, cool, and refrigerate up to two days or freeze for a month. Then it is three minutes to hot chips from there, which is genuinely useful.