Potato Balls
There’s something eternally endearing about fried potatoes. I mean that’s why we try to come up with different forms and shapes for what is essentially taters deep-fried in oil under crispy on the outside but still soft, pillowy, and carby on the insides. We’ve got wedges, tater tots, hash browns, pomme souffles, and of course, all the thick-cut, thin-cut, crinkle-cut, skin-on, skin-off, shoestring, curly, and waffle fries you could ever want.
So here’s my personal addition to the running list of fried potato products — potato *balls*.
These are inspired by Taiwanese sweet potato balls, which are insanely addictive to just pop in your mouth as you stroll through a night market. But instead of sweet potatoes, I used regular potatoes. And instead of tapioca starch or cornstarch to form the dough, I used potato starch! (Apt, no?) Just cook the potatoes, knead in flour, potato starch, and salt to turn it into a dough, roll it into balls, and fry away!
Potato Balls
Makes: approximately 40 balls
Total Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 medium potatoes (240g)
5g (1 tsp) kosher salt
40g all-purpose flour
40g potato starch
Method
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half. Then, put it into a pot and cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, until cooked through.
After the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the water and pass it through a tammy sieve until super fine. (You can also just mash it with a fork, but this will give the balls a much rougher texture. When done, mix the salt, all-purpose flour, and potato starch in together with the mash, and knead into a smooth dough.
Divide the potato dough into 8g balls. You should get 35-40 balls this way.
Pour oil into a deep pan or pot until at least 2 inches deep. Then heat it up to 180°C (350°F). Then, deep-fry the potato balls in the oil in 2-3 batches until golden brown. Make sure to stir and agitate the balls in the first 1 minute of cooking to make sure they don’t stick together. (The balls should take 5-6 minutes to cook.)
When done, remove the potato balls from the oil, and season with a pinch of salt. Serve hot!
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