Papas Locas de la Feria
Antojitos: Weeknight Hacks and Street Food Fixes
The air at the August fair, the Fiestas Agostinas, is thick with humidity, flashing neon, and the intoxicating scent of frying potatoes. You don't need a deep fryer to bring that exact memory to a Tuesday night. The secret to these crinkle-cut fries is a ten-minute soak with vinegar and baking soda from your pantry. Pile them high in a paper boat, grab the squeeze bottles, bury them under mayonnaise and ketchup, and rain down a mountain of grated hard cheese, the salty Queso Duro Blando. Grab a wooden fork, and make a mess.
Ingredients
- Russet potatoes4 large
- cold water4 cup
- white vinegar3 tbsp
- baking soda1 1/2 tbsp
- cornstarch1 tbsp
- neutral oil2 qt
- fine sea salt1 pinch
- mayonnaise1/2 cup
- ketchup1/2 cup
- Queso Duro Blando1 cup
Method
- 01
Cut the potatoes into hearty batons and soak them in the vinegar and baking soda solution.
Slice the peeled potatoes lengthwise into quarter-inch strips—thick enough to survive a drowning in sauce, thin enough to cook quickly. Submerge them in a bowl with the cold water, vinegar, and baking soda for exactly 10 minutes. The acid firms the potato walls while the alkaline soda sets you up for aggressive browning.
- 02
Dry the potatoes completely and dust them with cornstarch.
Drain the fries and pat them bone-dry with clean kitchen towels or paper towels. Any residual water will drop your oil temperature and cause dangerous splattering. Toss the dried potatoes with the cornstarch until every fry has an invisible, glass-like coating.
- 03
Fry the potatoes in hot oil until deeply golden and blistered.
Heat about two inches of neutral oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven to 350°F. Fry the potatoes in batches so you don't crowd the pot. Give them 8 to 10 minutes until they develop a loud crunch on the outside while staying fluffy in the center.
- 04
Drain the fries and season lightly.
Fish the fries out with a spider or slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel-lined bowl or wire rack. Hit them immediately with a modest pinch of fine sea salt—remember, the cheese you're about to add is aggressively salty, so hold back a little here.
- 05
Pile the fries high and drown them in the traditional sauces and cheese.
Heap the hot potatoes onto a large communal plate. Hit them unapologetically with a heavy, zig-zagging drizzle of ketchup and mayonnaise, then bury the whole thing under a thick blanket of the grated Queso Duro Blando. Serve immediately while the cheese starts to sweat into the hot sauces.
Notes
Sourcing the cheese.
Queso Duro Blando is a heavily salted, aged, semi-hard Salvadoran cheese essential to the authentic flavor profile of this dish. Look for brands like Rio Grande or Petacones at your local Latin market. If you absolutely cannot find it, a crumbly Mexican Queso Cotija makes a highly reliable, weeknight-friendly substitute.