Potato
Floury and waxy potatoes are for opposite jobs: one is supposed to fall apart, the other is supposed to hold together.
Floury versus waxy
- Floury (high starch) β falls apart into fluff when cooked. Russets and similar. Mashed Potatoes, Gnocchi, chips (Fish and Chips).
- Waxy (low starch) β holds its shape. Salad and boiling varieties. Gamja Jorim, soups, potato salad.
Swap them and the dish collapses. Waxy potatoes mash into glue; floury potatoes dissolve into a braise.
Fry them twice
For chips, 160Β°C to cook them through, then 190Β°C for colour. Before that, soak the cut chips in cold water to wash off surface starch and dry them completely. Two frying stages are why the chips in Pique Macho survive being sauced β see Deep frying.
Start them in cold water
Potatoes go into cold water and come up with it. Dropped into boiling water, the outside overcooks while the centre stays hard. Cutting them to an even size is the same principle β see Knife skills.
Potato starch
Potato starch is a different ingredient from potato. It makes frying coatings lighter (Karaage, Tangsuyuk) and thickens sauces. It thickens faster than cornstarch and sets clearer.
Storing
- Dark, cool and ventilated. Light turns them green and produces solanine β cut out green patches and sprouts, and discard badly greened potatoes.
- Do not refrigerate. Cold converts starch to sugar, so they taste sweet and burn and over-colour when fried.
- Do not store them with onions. Each accelerates the other's sprouting and spoiling.
- Cut potatoes go into cold water to stop browning, and should be used the same day.
Substitutes
- Sweet potato β different sugar and moisture; a different dish rather than a substitute.
- Taro and yam β interchangeable in dishes built on root vegetables, like Bougna.
- Cauliflower β the common low-carb stand-in for mash.