Perhaps not the healthiest thing you can make, but here at To Die For Recipes we have no reservations on our culinary journey. Many people I have met are reluctant to deep-fry at home for safety reasons and/or difficulty. There are some tricks and a couple of safe practices to follow to get the best fried-foods made right at home. So what to deep-fry? Some of my favourites deep-fried recipes are breaded pork cuts, potato, shrimp and chicken.
I’ll start with the pork, but this technique applies to almost all fried foods.
Safety first! If you have a fire extinguisher keep it close, if not baking soda. Keep any water far away from your fry area. I use an electrical burner under glass and have dropped oil on it before with no issues. I am led to believe a closed burner under glass is much safer. No matter what kind of element please be careful. Lastly if fire does happen DO NOT POUR WATER ON IT. This will create something similar to napalm and is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Fire extinguisher, baking soda or a lid.
On to the fun stuff! What you’ll need, a large deep pot/pan or wok and enough oil in it to cover what you are cooking while leaving about 3 inches from the top of the pan/pot to the oil. Personally I use a wok because it tapers at the bottom has high edges and let me use less oil also I have a cover for my wok in case of fire.
The kind of oil you use and at what temperature has to be the two most important elements of getting this right. Many oils smoke at low temperatures like olive oil and sesame oil. Vegetable oil/safflower/canola is pretty good all around choice and cheap, it can still smoke if heated too high as any oil can but, its done me well so far.
The temperature is the second element important to this process. Too low and your food will come out greasy, too high your oil smokes. If using a deep-fryer you have nothing to worry about the settings are very precise, but that’s no fun! You want your oil about 350F give or take. Add your oil to the cold pan/pot and heat it never to a hot pan/pot.
You can use any cut of pork, I like either a nice fatty cut or pork loin no matter what you do to pork loin is seems to be succulent even with the absence of fat. Fatty cuts will keep your meat moist.
Prepare the meat first! Grab 3 large bowls/dishes and add an egg or two to one, flour and bread crumbs (Panko a type of Japanese bread crumb is really nice. Very low sodium and no spices added so it leaves you space to add to your taste.). Season flour and bread crumbs with salt and pepper and favourite spices.
1. Dredge your room temperature 3/4 inch ~ 1 inch thick slice of pork in flour. This will dry out any moisture on the pork and adds something for the egg to stick to.
2. Roll in egg to coat.
3. Roll in bread crumbs thoroughly.
4. Place very carefully in 350f preheated oil with dry metal or wood tongs as not to splash. Never over crowd your oil with food this lowers the temperature of the oil and will result in greasy food. Cooking times will always vary, electrical elements are notorious for not keeping consistent temperature. Outer bread crumbs should look golden to dark golden-brown for pork to be done. I serve mine over rice or on a small wire rack precut into strips this allows you to see how well its done and at worst care if some are not 100% white-ish inside you can add those strips to the oil again to finish. You can always test your first one out to see and cook the others in the same fashion if you don’t like them cut.
5. Place finished pork on paper towels or wire rack to dry and wait for others to be done.
This same technique applies to many types of deep-fried foods with a couple small exceptions. Smaller cut food and sea food require less time and may not require egg and bread crumbs. All food after being removed from heat continue to cook after having been cooked, for sea food this is extremely important as it gets very tough if left too long. Try first cooking smaller cuts of sea-food, meat or vegetables just in a light flour salt pepper and seasoning to get the hang of it.
SO… you have a vat of hot oil now with lots of floaters in it. Let it cool and use a fine wire sieve/paper-towel to strain and save it for another time or toss it in a used milk carton and dispose of it. As long as your oil didn’t smoke you can keep it in the fridge for a good while.
Happy Frying!