Papas Locas de la Feria
Antojitos: Weeknight Hacks and Street Food Fixes
San Salvador’s Fiestas Agostinas means flashing lights, humid night air, and the unmistakable, deeply comforting smell of frying potatoes. You don't need a carnival-sized cauldron or hours of prep to recreate this memory for your kids on a Tuesday night. The secret to these fiercely crispy, sauce-drenched fries is a brilliant, ten-minute street-side hack using baking soda and vinegar straight from your pantry. Top them exactly how the vendors do: unapologetically buried in mayonnaise, sweet ketchup, and a small mountain of dry, salty Queso Duro Blando.
Before you start
Cut the potatoes into even batons.
Slice the peeled potatoes lengthwise into strips about a quarter-inch thick; you want them hearty enough to support the sauces but thin enough to cook quickly.
Soak the potatoes in an alkaline bath.
Submerge the batons in a large bowl of cold water, stirring in the white vinegar and baking soda. Let them sit for exactly ten minutes to pull out surface starch and alter the pH for maximum browning.
Ingredients
- Russet potatoes4 large
- cold water1 qt
- white vinegar3 tbsp
- baking soda1 1/2 tbsp
- cornstarch1 tbsp
- neutral oil1 qt
- fine sea salt1/4 tsp
- mayonnaise1/2 cup
- ketchup1/2 cup
- Queso Duro Blando1 cup
Method
- 01
Dry the potatoes completely and dust with cornstarch.
Drain the soaked potatoes and pat them bone-dry with clean kitchen towels. Toss the dried batons with cornstarch until every piece has an invisible, protective coating.
- 02
Fry the potatoes until deeply golden.
Heat about two inches of neutral oil in a heavy Dutch oven to 350°F. Fry in batches for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until perfectly crisp with a glass-like crunch.
- 03
Drain and season lightly.
Move the hot fries to a wire rack or paper towels. Hit them immediately with a very conservative pinch of salt, keeping in mind the cheese is heavily salted.
- 04
Assemble the papas locas.
Pile the hot fries onto a large communal plate. Drizzle aggressively with the mayonnaise and ketchup in a zigzag pattern, then bury the whole operation under a heavy blanket of grated Queso Duro Blando.
Notes
Sourcing the proper cheese.
Queso Duro Blando is the soul of this dish—salty, pungent, and dry. If you absolutely cannot find it at a Latin market, Mexican Queso Cotija makes a highly respectable stand-in.
The eastern San Miguel upgrade.
If you want to mimic the regional style of eastern El Salvador, hit the assembled fries with a light drizzle of yellow mustard and salsa negra right before serving.