Testing and tasting potatoes in Bangkok – updated
I’m back in Bangkok! Arrived just before the PAD occupied the airport …
As I could not find a fryer here, I flew in a round one from Belgium. Very simple and cheap thing, but it will do the trick. My bottle of real belgian mayonaise was confiscated at Brussels airport. Forgot it was in my handluggage. Bugger …
Finding potatoes was not that difficult but there was no choice. At Carrefour and at Robinson they only had 1 variety. No name, just labelled “potato”. There was a big variety of cooking oils however. For my test I chose palm oil, which is supposed to be more “healthy” than most other oils.
After the first frying the more expensive Robinson potatoes turned out to be rather sweet. The Carrefour potato was quite hard and looked more like “the real thing” after the first frying. Still, both apparently contained a lot of sugar and they browned too quickly, even at a rather low temperature of 140°C.
After the second frying I tasted my fries and was really disappointed: none of the potatoes gave me a satisfying result. Not crispy at all, too brown and too sweet. The Robinson potatoes ended up in the bin. I’ll try the other potatoes again tomorrow.
Update
Found nice looking potatoes at the local market in Huai Khwang and tested them yesterday with fairly good results.
It turned out that my cheap Belgian fryer has a “rough” temperature control. I lowered the temperature quite a bit for the first frying with good results: no quick browning, fries simmering away and cooking gently.
Second frying was ok too: nice golden brown color, yet not crispy enough. Well, after all I am rather satisfied with the result. Question is: are the potatoes from the market really different (and suitable), or did I get a better result because of the lower cooking temperature?
Hi, I wonder can any body explain any difference between the circular fryers and the rectangle ones. The circular frying ranges look like they were specially made for the Belgium pommes frits, but are they better? the large baskets look like they can cook more! can anybody advise please, and maybe advise where they can be bought. Thanks
Wow…I just finished watching a documentary about Begium fries and I wonder how to cook it
Because though it looks simple, I’m sure there’s some secret hiding 
I’m Thai and live in Bangkok so your topic strikes my attention perfectly! As you may know, nice fries is hardly found around the street in BKK 
and I love big hand-cut fries more than those from McDonald. Thank for your sharing I plan to cook it as soon as I get the frier which suppose to be very soon hahahaaa 
Btw, your webpage is so unique
I didn’t expect to find someone who really deep into fries before LoL.
Palm oil is NOT one of the more healthy oils.. It’s the cheapest stuff out there. Soy Bean oil or sunflower seed oil would be a bit healthier. Rice Bran Oil is a lot more expensive, but also quite healthy.
I find it a bit awkward that you had to buy and carry a fryer from Belgium. They are easily to find in Thailand, and probably of better (and safer quality) than the one you are using there. Please take no offense, It’s only a remark.
e.g. Makro sells both SEAGULL and MINOYA brands, but I saw other brands in a lot of other stores as well.
Seagull costs around 6.000 Baht and the Minoya one 2.000 Baht.
I’ve been using both of them to fry my “Fritjes” in my restaurant on a daily basis.
Seagull might be a little to much and too big for domestic use but the Minoya will do the job just as well.
‘Liams Suan Dok Mai Guesthouse & Belgian Restaurant, Chiang Mai’
opened 4 months ago by my sister and me. We have found very good potatoes for fries here in Chiang Mai and of course we’re serving those with Belgian Beef stew (stoofvlees) and Vol au Vent or Pork Ribs in Belgian Beer sauce among many other great Belgian food.
Ow, and in case you’re wondering,… we’re serving real Brussels Waffles too.
Best of luck with your fries, they sure look delicious !!!!
Valere & Daphne
Iøm living in Koh Lanta, if u ever here, feel free to drop by for a nice batch of frut..
ST
I live in the Bangkok area and it just so happens that I made a batch of Belgian fries today. I used potatoes from the local market, but like you don’t know what they were. They looked liked Idaho bakers to me. Anyway, I cut, soaked, dried, and double fried and I was very pleased with the results. I have a infrared temp gauge that I will use next time to see if I am cooking at the right temp.