Shatter-Crisp Sweet Potato Chips with Smoked Chile Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Paper-thin sweet potato slices soaked to wash off surface starch, then fried low and slow so the natural sugars crisp instead of scorch. They come out translucent-edged, glassy and audibly crunchy, and get tossed hot with a smoked paprika, brown sugar and lime-zest salt. This is the version worth standing over a pot for — a snack-bowl chip that beats any bag.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 medium, slender ones)
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 6 cups peanut or canola oil, for frying

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lime, zest only

Instructions

1. Make the seasoning first, because the chips have to be salted the second they leave the oil: in a small bowl, rub together the fine sea salt, smoked paprika, brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder and lime zest with your fingertips until the zest is evenly distributed and the mix smells fragrant. Set it next to the stove with a spoon.
2. Scrub the sweet potatoes well but do not peel them — the skin holds the slices together and crisps beautifully. Trim the ends flat. Using a mandoline or the thinnest setting on a Y-peeler, slice the potatoes into rounds no thicker than 1/16 inch (about 1.5 mm); they should be flexible enough to bend without cracking. Discard any slice noticeably thicker than the rest, or it will stay chewy.
3. Drop the slices into a large bowl of cold water as you go, add the vinegar, and swish with your hand until the water clouds. Let them soak 20 minutes, changing the water once, until it runs nearly clear. This removes surface starch and sugar, which is what keeps sweet potato chips from turning bitter and dark.
4. Drain the slices and dry them aggressively: spread them in a single layer on clean kitchen towels, blot the tops, then roll the towel loosely and press. Any water left on the slices will make the oil boil over and steam the chips soft. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet for draining.
5. Pour the oil into a heavy 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven — no more than a third full — and heat over medium to 300°F (150°C) on a clip-on thermometer. Low and slow matters here: above about 340°F the sugars in sweet potato burn before the slice dries out.
6. Fry in batches of about 20 slices, dropping them in one at a time so they don't clump. Stir gently and constantly with a spider or slotted spoon for 3 to 5 minutes. Watch the bubbling: when the loud fizzing dies down to a lazy simmer and the slices go stiff with slightly curled, translucent edges, they are done. They will darken a shade more out of the oil, so pull them at deep orange, not brown.
7. Lift the batch to the wire rack, shake off excess oil, and immediately sprinkle with a pinch of the chile salt while the surface is still glossy. Let the oil come back up to 300°F before the next batch — check the thermometer every time.
8. Repeat until all the slices are fried, about 6 to 8 batches. Cool the chips in a single layer for 5 minutes; they crisp fully as they cool. Taste one, adjust with more chile salt, and pile them into a wide bowl so they don't steam each other. Serve within a few hours for maximum crunch.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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