Make Retro McDonald’s French Fries With Beef Fat
In 1990, two important things happened: I had a dinosaur birthday party and McDonald’s changed the recipe for fried potatoes. Someone might argue that a person who was four years old in 1990 could hardly remember the iconic taste of the original McDonald’s roast, but I remember my dinosaur-themed birthday in great detail, so checkmate, Aristotle.
The company’s switch from beef fat to vegetable oil upset many people, including Malcolm Gladwell and my father, and their anger was not without reason. Cooking oil is more than just a conductor of heat; it imparts flavor to fried potatoes, and the meaty flavor and super-crunchy appearance that fat imparts have been sorely lacking in fried potato lovers. If duck fat can make your fries taste like they were from a pretentious bistro, beef tallow is the key to capturing the magic of retro fast food.
As at McDonald’s before us, we will use frozen fries. As we discussed earlier , once-cooked chips are a big crime, and frozen fries are frankly a very good product (take the skinny “fast food style”). Once you cook a potato stick, the fries will become moist and soft; a second round of cooking – this time with fat – is needed to properly crumble.
But there is little fat. Seasonings are also key to the pre-1990 fry rearing experience. Like popcorn , fries are best sprinkled with fine, almost crushed salt. Also worth noting: While modern McDonald’s fries do not contain monosodium glutamate , they do contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein , which is widely used in the food industry due to its glutamate content. If you want a full-fledged fast food, you can achieve the HVP effect by grinding monosodium glutamate along with salt. Honestly, you should grind up all the MSG you plan to use as your finishing salt, as MSG crystals are long and thin rods, don’t come out of the shaker with ease, and look pretty weird just sitting on the surface of food. (I couldn’t confirm that pre-1990 French fries also contained HVP, so feel free to omit if you don’t remember that.)
To make a truly happy meal, even if it’s nothing more than a stack of French fries, you’ll need:
- 1/4 cup beef tallow, plus more if needed
- As many frozen fries as you like
- 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
Combine salt and MSG in a food processor or spice grinder and stir. Call it “salt with umami” and set it aside. Heat the fat over medium to high heat in a large stainless steel or cast iron skillet. Once it starts to flicker slightly, place one dough fry in the oil. If it sizzles right away, add as many potatoes to the skillet as you can in one layer. (If not, let the fat heat a little more before adding the rest of the fries.) Let the potatoes sizzle and cook, stirring gently and turning them with a spatula or tongs in hot lard, until they are pale golden brown and crispy. – it should take 6-8 minutes. Use tongs or a slotted spatula to remove them from the beef tallow and place on paper towels to dry. Season with umami salt and serve immediately with McDonald’s Sweet and Sour Sauce, which is actually the best frying sauces in existence and cannot be replicated by God or man. (By the way, I need to top up my wallet .)