A few years ago, I noticed sweet potato fries appearing on menus. They seem to have become quite trendy, and have supplanted aioli fries. I’m often disappointed by French fries*, and would rather have a salad. But I like sweet potatoes, so why not give them a try? I’ve had them at a few places since I noticed them, and I’m just not impressed. They’re OK; but if I’m having fries, I prefer the regular ones. To my palate, sweet potatoes should not be coated and fried – unless it’s a white sweet potato in tempura batter. Those are good. When I eat tempura, I save the white sweet potato for second-to-last (before the prawns). Actually, I don’t like fries that have a coating on them. So sweet potato fries: Like them? Dislike them? Just OK?
As an aside, there was a place near the office that made avocado fries; avocados, cut into strips, coated, and fried like French fries. I like avocados, but these were dull.
‘I am often disappointed by French fries.’ Sounds like a true-or-false statement on a psych test; like, ‘When I go outdoors, I’m likely to be bitten by a horse.’
Coated? I’ve had sweet potato fries at many places and never once seen them with a coating. Personally I love sweet potato fries. Unless french fries are really good they just taste of oil and salt, while even the worst sweet potato fries I’ve ever had still had a pleasant flavor to them. I also think that the slight sweetness of them contrasts well with most things that fries are served with. Of course I’m someone who would take a sweet potato over a regular one at almost every opportunity.
I’ve had sweet potato American fries with breakfast before. They weren’t all sweet potatoes, they were about 2/3 white potato, 1/3 sweet potato. They were pretty good, but I think if they were all sweet potato, it’d be overly sweet.
Probably the best “fries” kind of thing I’ve had was at a French bistro kind of place. They had anchovies in a light breading, deep fried. They looked sort of like fries, but obviously not when you bit into them. They were WAY better than they sound. Really, really good.
We make them on occasion. Toss in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, then pop them under the broiler for a bit until they develop a crispy exterior. Turn them, do the same. I wouldn’t care for them deep-fried, though.
I had them once a few years ago (before they were cool) at a Louisiana-style fish & chips restaurant, because it had snowed that day and the restaurant had run out of regular fries.
They were OK, but I wouldn’t order them in favor of regular fries.
I hate sweet potatoes with a passion. Since this isn’t the Pit, I won’t say how I really feel about them. Despite this, I gave sweet potato fries a try. Didn’t like them. I’ll stick with regular potato fries. Can’t say I didn’t give them a try
The sweet potato fries I’ve had have been about as good as slightly sub-par regular-potato fries (read: still fairly yummy). I don’t like how eateries seem to act as though they’re supposed to be better than regular-potato fries; it sets a higher bar than they can meet.
If I want fries I want regular potato fries with salt and ketchup. If I want sweet potatoes I’ll bake them then cover them with butter and brown sugar.
I think some of the trendiness is that sweet potato fries are gluten-free, and lots of people are going gluten-free whether they need to or not.
I’ve had and enjoyed sweet potato fries a number of times, and they’ve never been coated in any kind of batter. They were apparently just cut up and fried, like regular french fries.
It’s because baking brings out what’s good about yams and sweet potatoes, the creamy texture. Deep frying them tries to force them crisp up which is something they are not well suited for.
One of my favorite snacks in the world are thick sweet potato fries served with salt and habanero-based hot sauce. It’s a pretty common street food in a few parts of the world, and for me it’s a wondrously nostalgic combo.
I find your standard thin cut sweet potato fries with ketchup to be a bit less enchanting, but sometimes they make for a nice change.
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