One Day Outing Foreman - Vol. 17 Ch. 133 - Clean Deep-frying

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To my knowledge, east-Asians have a habit of ハフハフ, where we load soft hot foods into our mouths, and blow out the steam and swallow them while it's still very hot and swallow it down. Two hafu-hafu examples are eggplants which hold their shape until you chew it, and Mapo Tofu.

I like to start my winters off with curries. Butter Chicken, Chinese-Malaysian curries, Indian curries...all mild. I also really liked African Tomato Chicken when I lived in HK. It's a very sweet rice dish with tomato sauce and cut chicken. Delicious. My summers can't end unless I have fried chicken and....uhh...fruits.
 
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This chapter has filled me with existential dread :D my neighbour (a sorta loud lady you can't refuse) used to attempt deep-fried eggplants... I say attempt because she'd throw them in when the oil was still cold. So you'd get a plate of oil-boiled eggplants that don't come out of you whatever you try. Apparently it wasn't meant as a delicacy but as a coating for upcoming liters of vodka at festivities.
Seeing Ootsuki actually do it right gives me a weird feeling of bitter closure :D

Starting your winter off with curry sounds so cozy~ My winter food is rice with soy sauce, garlic, and butter. And of course a summer without a watermelon (around here they get good in August), young potatoes, and corn on the cob is a wasted one
 
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It gives me a bit of anxiety too. Not fond of the splashing and uses too much oil 😱
You just gotta salt the surface and after a while you can dry the moisture with a paper towel! Promise you it won't splash!
Deep frying or frying in general is my worst nightmare in cooking, I just don't know how to do it well. Whenever I try to deep fry something it always end up to be very oily and barely edible. Anyone know what I do wrong?

This is why i don't deep fry anymore, i actually have burned my cheek on oil splashing, even when you dry food, if they have some water inside it can still violently pop, if it wasn't because of my glasses i would have ended up blind

Also deep-frying consumes way too much oil, so unless you are going to make lots of it and get plenty of use, it is a waste of oil, and then you are eating a bunch of oily food so if you manage to get your money's worth out of it, it will still come at the expense of your health

So nowadays if i feel like getting some deep fry food, i just order from restaurants, and if i want eggplant baba ganoush is just way better

Mfw someone inevitably suggests air frying

like nah fam thats just a convection oven
When i was considering giving up on deep fry and move on with my life, i seriously looked that option, but anything with or that is a batter is impossible on air fry because it will drop below the grill

So for example fried lentil patties are a no go on an air fryer (that said, i found out later that they are better baked on a pan, instead of deep fried anyways)
 
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After reading this chapter a year ago, I successfully fried some eggplants myself and lemme tell you - this is a hell of a dish...
First attempt I coated lightly with flour to get a crisp on the outside that I liked a lot.
The second attempt, I coated with more spices but I think I overspiced it and didnt heat the oil high enough because it was slightly undercooked.

Also, I always enjoy seeing you guys in the comment sections - I feel like this Ootsuki community is the most engaging, proportionate to the total followers count.
I love you guys, I will post a picture of my 3rd attempt before summer 2024 ends!
 
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When i was considering giving up on deep fry and move on with my life, i seriously looked that option, but anything with or that is a batter is impossible on air fry because it will drop below the grill

So for example fried lentil patties are a no go on an air fryer (that said, i found out later that they are better baked on a pan, instead of deep fried anyways)
Have you heard of... parchment papers for your air fryer? got about 100 sheets the other day from Temu or Aliexpress (I don't remember) and theyre a game changer.
 
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Mfw someone inevitably suggests air frying

like nah fam thats just a convection oven
I actually went through a considerably long quest era trying to work out an air fryer recipe for sweet potato tempura (one of my favorite foods) in the air fryer but it really just doesn't work. It can be done with some battered foods, but with tempura in particular the success really depends on the ingredient involved since the lighter batter tends to, uh, fly off of the ingredient in the air fryer.
 
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Have you heard of... parchment papers for your air fryer? got about 100 sheets the other day from Temu or Aliexpress (I don't remember) and theyre a game changer.
The bottom sticks to the paper and ends under cooked if not raw, it is not really a solution for frying fluids, you just end with only the top half being cooked and then you have to scrap the batter and flip things, cook again, but then the part that was already fried ends getting fried again...
 
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I'll out myself as an air fryer fan, I think it's very good for getting a good crisp on things like skin-on chicken wings, vegetables, salmon, etc... also the fastest and easiest way to do frozen appetizers and such. I agree that it's pretty useless for most things hand-battered, though. I personally don't mind deep frying, but I only bother with it for parties, feels like a big pain for just one or two people.

Deep frying or frying in general is my worst nightmare in cooking, I just don't know how to do it well. Whenever I try to deep fry something it always end up to be very oily and barely edible. Anyone know what I do wrong?
Might be leaving it in for too long, or the oil might be too low temp? If it doesn't "seal" it and the oil has a chance to soak in too much, that could make it taste like that. Letting it cool on a wire rack or paper towels so the excess oil runs off quickly and doesn't keep soaking in is important too.

This chapter made me realize I was really underappreciating eggplant too... I've only had it as an ingredient in dishes, I've never prepared eggplant as a main dish. That may have to change!!

For me, the must-have food for the summer is corn on the cob :)
 
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@chinchiro_addict @deenzfan12 @keatsta @Doomroar @spectralSpices @ocsibrm @Fri @rudezki @Tertiaritus
As promised, here's a photo of deep fried eggplant cooked last night, my 3rd attempt.
Oil temp was just right, and I only lightly seasoned the eggplants. I didn't have flour so i used pancake mix, which was kind of a blessing in disguise because of the leavening agents already included in the mix.
Last attempt, I over-spiced the eggplants and the oil was too low temp because I was afraid to burn it.
I didn't have ponzu or dashi so I improvised with the dipping sauce by combining black vinegar, mirin, sesame oil and diced chili.
I also threw in 3 garlic cloves just to see how it tastes deep-fried; was not disappointed.
I would highly recommend anyone to try it out, it wasnt too much of a hassle and it goes well with cold noodles in the summer.

3VKT0Lc.jpeg
 
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@chinchiro_addict @deenzfan12 @keatsta @Doomroar @spectralSpices @ocsibrm @Fri @rudezki
As promised, here's a photo of deep fried eggplant cooked last night, my 3rd attempt.
Oil temp was just right, and I only lightly seasoned the eggplants. I didn't have flour so i used pancake mix, which was kind of a blessing in disguise because of the leavening agents already included in the mix.
Last attempt, I over-spiced the eggplants and the oil was too low temp because I was afraid to burn it.
I didn't have ponzu or dashi so I improvised with the dipping sauce by combining black vinegar, mirin, sesame oil and diced chili.
I also threw in 3 garlic cloves just to see how it tastes deep-fried; was not disappointed.
I would highly recommend anyone to try it out, it wasnt too much of a hassle and it goes well with cold noodles in the summer.

3VKT0Lc.jpeg
Wow...
I completely forgot any context to this, and why I was mentioned in it. But that looks delicious!!
 
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@chinchiro_addict @deenzfan12 @keatsta @Doomroar @spectralSpices @ocsibrm @Fri @rudezki
As promised, here's a photo of deep fried eggplant cooked last night, my 3rd attempt.
Oil temp was just right, and I only lightly seasoned the eggplants. I didn't have flour so i used pancake mix, which was kind of a blessing in disguise because of the leavening agents already included in the mix.
Last attempt, I over-spiced the eggplants and the oil was too low temp because I was afraid to burn it.
I didn't have ponzu or dashi so I improvised with the dipping sauce by combining black vinegar, mirin, sesame oil and diced chili.
I also threw in 3 garlic cloves just to see how it tastes deep-fried; was not disappointed.
I would highly recommend anyone to try it out, it wasnt too much of a hassle and it goes well with cold noodles in the summer.

3VKT0Lc.jpeg
Looks great!!

How much oil does it use tho? because i am trying to cut on fat and carbs (this also why i keep going with Baba ghanoush when preparing eggplant)
 
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@chinchiro_addict @deenzfan12 @keatsta @Doomroar @spectralSpices @ocsibrm @Fri @rudezki
As promised, here's a photo of deep fried eggplant cooked last night, my 3rd attempt.
Oil temp was just right, and I only lightly seasoned the eggplants. I didn't have flour so i used pancake mix, which was kind of a blessing in disguise because of the leavening agents already included in the mix.
Last attempt, I over-spiced the eggplants and the oil was too low temp because I was afraid to burn it.
I didn't have ponzu or dashi so I improvised with the dipping sauce by combining black vinegar, mirin, sesame oil and diced chili.
I also threw in 3 garlic cloves just to see how it tastes deep-fried; was not disappointed.
I would highly recommend anyone to try it out, it wasnt too much of a hassle and it goes well with cold noodles in the summer.

3VKT0Lc.jpeg
Bravo! Job well done! I have to try this out as well!
 

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