I stumbled upon my skinny chips one evening while the Troll was barbecuing on the veranda. We were working on a limited charcoal supply.. which meant that the food was being ‘delicately slow cooked’, and the two of us were becoming increasingly famished.
I decided to do us some potato chips. While waiting for the oil to heat up I was idly admiring my beautiful vegetable julienne peeler which I was recently gifted by my out-of-wedlock sister in law. Getting that feeling like when you were a little kid and you want to scratch off paint you are not supposed to, I picked it up.
Next thing I was julienning and in 10 minutes we had a plate of skinny chips!
The reason why I call these skinny chips is not just because they are thin. I noticed that when I make these, I do not fill myself up so much. Which is great, especially if you still must eat a meal and are supposed to just be elegantly snacking. Make them and you will see what I mean. : )
(neither the lavender or the mint goes into the chips – but the troll placed them there in an effort to help me in my ‘food styling’)
These skinny chips work great with ordinary potatoes, but recently I decided to try them out with sweet potato. And then the sweet potato flavor acted as a muse and directed me to spice the chips up with paprika and cinnamon. Yummy! Of course if you just want some regular salted chips, you can leave out the outlandish spicing. But promise me you will try a little on one stick – just to make sure!
So, first up, I set the oil to heat up. I then peel the sweet potato. If you are using a vegetable spiralizer, then you might not need to do this. But if you are using a julienne peeler like mine, then you will probably find that the peel tends to clog up the teeth.
Armed with the julienne peeler, I then proceed to slice away. When I have enough sliced sweet potato and the oil is ready, I put in my first lot of chips to cook. I tend to do it all in a few batches, as otherwise the chips can stick together. I let them drain on a paper towel for a few minutes, and then onto a plate and sprinkle with the spices. Try to use a nice fine salt, otherwise it just falls through and ends up on the plate.
If you do not eat them all in one go, box the left overs up in a tupperware. If there is a not too much air in the tub, they will keep their crispness well.
Oh, last thing, it pays to keep a close eye on the chips while cooking. They tend to look as if they are not going anywhere fast, and then all of a sudden they are browning rapidly!
Sweet Potato Skinny Chips
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Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- Oil for deep frying
- Fine salt
- Paprika
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Pour a generous amount of oil into a medium sized pot, more than one inch. Place the pot onto the heat.
- While the oil is heating up, peel the sweet potatoes, then julienne or spiralize them. If you are using a spiralizer you might want to cut the lengths in half if they seem to long. (Sweet potatoes can come in all shapes and sizes!)
- Once the oil is up to heat, put a portion of the ready sweet potato into the oil. Be careful that you do not splash hot oil onto yourself.
- Allow the chips to cook until they start to brown slightly. Do not worry if they feel slightly soft in the pot, as soon as they cool they will most probably harden.
- Remove the chips onto a paper towel and cook the rest in batches.
- Once all of the chips are done and have drained off any excess oil, put them on a plate and season with the salt, paprika and cinnamon.
Notes
If you do not want to add the cinnamon and paprika, plain salt is tasty too. Ordinary potatoes can also be used in place of the sweet potatoes.
