One of my favorite snacks is a sea salt and vinegar potato chip; there is nothing quite so tangy and crisp. After a particularly unhealthy day of travel, when breakfast was a chocolate-covered granola bar and lunch was string cheese and an ossified apple, I treated myself to a bag of sea salt and vinegar chips. Who knew vinegar could have such an amazing effect on the stomach? Apparently almost everyone, but it was news to me. Vinegar increases the output of stomach acid, which aids in digestion. So for potato chipaholics (like me) you can eat chips and feel ever better afterward! As Ina Garten would say, how great is that?
This recipe is very straightforward, but I thought the chips weren’t crisp enough, so I introduced an additional step that guarantees uber-crispiness. Nothing too onerous, but it does take some advance planning so I want to draw it to your attention. And used both purple and white potatoes, just for fun. The vinegar powder was from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/White-Distilled-Vinegar-Powder-14/dp/B00JZSGN7W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450128683&sr=8-2&keywords=vinegar+powder
What a spectacular Superbowl treat, with a little onion dip!
Prep time: 15 minutes (unless you allow the chips to dehydrate overnight)
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin or food processor
- 2 cups small purple potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vinegar powder
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Directions
- Put potato slices into a bowl of cold water, changing water after fifteen minutes.
- After another fifteen minutes, drain and spread on a linen cloth.
- Pat all moisture from the potatoes.
- To get the crispiest potato chips, preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Turn off oven and place potatoes, spread out so they don’t overlap, into the oven and leave overnight.
- If you don’t have time for the overnight dehydration, proceed directly to the next step.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan to medium high (about 375 degrees).
- Use a slotted spatula to cook the potatoes in batches, allowing about five minutes per batch. Turn chips in the oil at least once. Drain on paper towels.
- Combine salt and vinegar powder and sprinkle potatoes with mixture. Serve.
Note: These proportions make a mild vinegar chip. If you like a really powerful vinegar flavor, add vinegar powder to taste. It is actually very mild and less is not more – it’s less.
