Recipes, Side Dish Recipes

Triple-Cooked Chips: The Ultimate Iteration of a Potato

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Triple-Cooked Chips: Chips — surely the ultimate form of the humble potato. What could be better? Fat or thin, crispy or soft, cooked in animal fat or vegetable oil — they’re a joy, and let’s face it, they’ll happily sit alongside just about anything. That kind of versatility belongs only to truly brilliant things.

This particular recipe is just one approach — there are many — but it’s a good one. Made popular by Heston Blumenthal, it’s rooted in the science of starch and structure. While more time-consuming than other chip methods, allowing the chips to cool completely between each stage delivers seriously satisfying results: crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and packed with flavour.

triple cooked chips served with steak and bernaise sauce

Ingredients

Method

  1. Cut the potatoes into the desired shape and size. This is purely a matter of preference. I like a medium-sized chip, not too chunky. Put them into a suitably sized pan and run them under the hottest water that your tap can produce. This is to wash away some of the starch from the potato. As they wash under the running water, move them around the pan. You will notice that the water is cloudy. Keep washing them until the water runs clean, then turn the tap to as cold as it will go and let it run for a minute.
  2. Tip away some of the water, so the pan isn’t too full, then season well with salt and set over a high heat. Bring the water to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chips. You want to find the sweet spot — cooked and offering up some fluffy edges, but not too far so that they are disintegrating.
  3. Carefully drain off the chips into a colander (too rough a touch here will smash up the chips too much) and then tip them, again with care, onto a flat tray and leave them to cool.
  4. Once cooled, place the tray in the fridge and leave for 2 hours.
  5. Heat your fryer to 125°C, and in batches, ‘blanch’ the chips for 8 minutes. Lift out of the fryer, draining away as much excess oil as possible, and return to a tray.
  6. Once all the chips have been ‘blanched’, return them to the fridge.
  7. Turn the fryer up to 185°C and fry the chips in batches for about 5 minutes, or until golden, crispy, and delicious. Tip into a bowl lined with kitchen towel and season well with salt.

Shop the ingredients

For 15 years George worked in some of London’s most loved restaurants, including Padella and Primeur, and had a 5-year stint as Head Chef at the Garden Museum Café. George earned rave reviews for his simple, thoughtful cookery, his dishes were firmly rooted in the classics, and always paid homage to the produce. In 2021 George realised a long-held ambition and released his first cookbook entitled, A Year In The Kitchen. It celebrates the annual cookery cycle, taking readers on a journey through the British seasons, showcasing native produce, and inspiring year round creativity. In 2022 George left London behind, and moved back home to Yorkshire. His passion for seasonal cookery and reverence of quality British ingredients proved that for George, home is where the heart is. Like his food, George is led by the seasons, he’s open to new opportunities, and always following his heart.