Deep-Frying

Appears in
Professional Cooking
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About
Potatoes (covered in the next chapter) and onion rings are the most popular fried vegetables, but many others may be fried, too.
Deep-fried vegetables may be divided into five categories:
  1. Vegetables dipped in batter and fried.
  2. Vegetables breaded and fried.

  3. Vegetables fried without a coating.

    Potatoes are the obvious example. Other starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, may be fried without breading or batter if they are cut thin to reduce cooking time. The sugar in them burns easily if they are cooked too long.

    Thin slices and shavings of vegetables, deep-fried until light and crisp, make an attractive and interesting garnish for many dishes. Root vegetables, such as beets, celery root, and parsnips, can be sliced thin and fried like potato chips (slice long roots like parsnips lengthwise). Other vegetables, such as leeks and celery, can be cut into thin shreds or julienne and fried. These may be dusted in flour before frying.

  4. Small vegetables or cuts mixed with a batter and dropped with a scoop into hot fat. The term fritter is used for this preparation, as well as for that in category 1.
  5. Croquettes: thick vegetable purées or mixtures of small pieces of vegetable and a heavy béchamel or other binder, formed into shapes, breaded, and fried.