Sinfully fried...

Thank God I don't own a deep fryer at home. There's no guessing if I'd end up having fish & chips or tempura for dinner everyday.

Truthfully, I find deep fryers useful; it is afterall, a huge time saver. Marinate your meats or chop up some onions, batter it, throw it into the large vat of hot hot oil and viola, you have something crisp and edible within minutes. I am not sure about you, but I've never been a huge grease lover. Sure, I enjoy fried foods, but if you ask me, I'd rather grill, than fry. Maybe it's just the health-nut in me speaking.

I do think that frying is fun actually, when you do it occasionally. The other time, I brought home the mini deep fryer we use at Amplify (when I cook food every Friday at Eden Lounge) because I wanted to fry some doughnuts using this donut mix I bought from Daiso. It's supposed to yield mini doughnuts. Well I don't know how mini they were supposed to be, but I made them small. The result was interesting - maybe I fried them too long, but it wasn't as light as I thought it would be. Maybe it's just the flour? I don't know...

Anyway, we got bored, so I suggested onion rings. I didn't have any onion ring recipe so I googled for one on the spot and came across a French Fried Onion Ring recipe that looked simple enough. After making the batter, we were all set to go. I'm pretty satisfied with the result, although I think it didn't look as pretty as the picture shown on the website.



Mine looked slightly deformed. But it tasted good anyway. I think I prefer the breaded kind like the ones sold at Carl's Jr and Burger King.

Didn't I tell you that deep frying is addictive? Soon after the onion rings were done, I felt like some home made potato chips so I sliced some and dropped them in the hot oil and viola:



I think they look perfect! Golden crisp potato chips. Yummy! Seriously, the way I handled the deep frying, it was as if I was a child given a new toy. But you know what, as much as I love these fried treats, I make sure I don't over do it. At the risk of sounding like an ambassador from the Health Promotion Board, I do advocate smart eating. haha... that said, I'll leave you with one more photo of the cute little donuts:



How often do you eat fried foods? And which fried food is your biggest weakness?

I find myself going at Old Chang Kee's fried sweet potato pieces whenever I see them. Maybe part of me thinks that it's healthy because it's sweet potato! I'm a huge fan of potato wedges too, the nicely seasoned ones (with paprika or herbs & spices) and calamari! While we're at it, might as well throw in tempura... Mmmm...

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French Fried Onion Rings

3 large sweet onions
flour for dredging onion rings
1 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil


Peel whole onions and then cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices. Separate the slices into individual rings. Dry rings thoroughly with paper towels.

Dredge rings in flour until well coated and then place on a large baking sheet. (Rings can be dredged in flour placed on a plate or the flour can be placed in a plastic bag. If using a plastic bag, several rings can be dredged at a time.) After all rings are coated, set them aside and mix batter.

Combine all dry ingredients and stir until evenly mixed. Set aside.
Blend eggs, milk and oil and then add the dry ingredients. Beat until all ingredients are well blended.

Add 1 inch of oil to a deep pan and heat to 375° F. Dip flour coated rings into the batter and allow excess batter to drip off.

Place batter coated rings into the hot oil. Avoid overcrowding so that they can cook evenly. Fry until golden brown on the first side and then turn to cook second side. When both sides are golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to allow oil to drain off.

Finished onion rings can be placed in an oven preheated to 300°F to keep warm until all onion rings are done and ready to serve.