Kettle-Fried Salt & Vinegar Crisps with Homemade Vinegar Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Paper-thin potato slices soaked in malt vinegar, fried kettle-style until they buckle and shatter, then dusted while hot with a homemade vinegar salt you cook down from white vinegar and baking soda. The result is that mouth-puckering, lip-tingling sourness real bagged crisps get from powdered acid — no additives, just a saucepan and a low oven.

Ingredients

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt, crushed

• 2 lb russet potatoes (about 3 large)
• 1 cup malt vinegar
• 6 cups cold water
• 1 tbsp kosher salt

• 6 cups peanut or canola oil, for frying

Instructions

1. Make the vinegar salt first, since it needs oven time. Pour the white vinegar into a 2-quart saucepan and set it on a cold burner. Add the baking soda about 1 teaspoon at a time — it will foam up hard — stirring until the fizzing stops between additions.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally, 18 to 25 minutes, until it reduces to about 2 tablespoons of thick, syrupy liquid with visible white crystals forming at the edges. Watch it closely in the last few minutes; if it starts to smell scorched, pull it off immediately.
3. Scrape the syrup onto a parchment-lined quarter sheet pan and spread it into a thin layer. Dry in a 200°F oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until it looks like matte white crust with no wet spots. Cool completely, then scrape it up and grind to a powder in a mortar or clean spice grinder with the fine sea salt. Store airtight — it draws moisture fast. (Shortcut: substitute 2 tablespoons store-bought malt vinegar powder mixed with the fine salt.)
4. Scrub the potatoes but leave the skins on. Using a mandoline set to 1/16 inch (or the thinnest setting), slice them into a large bowl of the cold water whisked with the malt vinegar and kosher salt. Soak 30 minutes at room temperature — this pulls surface starch and drives a little acid into the slices.
5. Drain the slices, rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, then dry them ruthlessly: spin in a salad spinner or spread on clean kitchen towels, blot the tops, and let them air-dry 10 minutes. Wet slices will spatter and steam instead of crisping.
6. Pour the oil into a heavy 5-quart Dutch oven to a depth of about 2 inches and heat over medium to 325°F on a clip-on thermometer. Line two sheet pans with paper towels and set wire racks nearby.
7. Fry in batches of about 2 large handfuls, dropping the slices in one at a time so they don't clump. The oil will bubble furiously. Stir gently with a spider or slotted spoon every 30 seconds to keep them separated.
8. Fry each batch 4 to 6 minutes, until the bubbling dies down to a lazy fizz and the chips turn pale gold with amber edges — that quiet oil is the signal the water is gone. Lift them out and let them drain 5 seconds over the pot.
9. Dump each hot batch straight into a large bowl, shower with a generous pinch of the vinegar salt, and toss immediately. The residual oil is what makes the powder stick, so season within seconds of leaving the fryer, then spread the chips on the racks in a single layer.
10. Let the oil come back to 325°F between batches (about 2 minutes) and repeat. Cool the finished chips 10 minutes to full crispness, then finish with the crushed flaky salt and a last light dusting of vinegar salt. Serve within a few hours or store airtight up to 2 days.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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