Potato Sauerkraut Stir-fry
[Photo credit: Alex Paternostro]
by Seth Paternostro
November 5, 2021
There comes a day in the life of any ferment when it’s time to come out of the jar. Today is that day. Most choose to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before: hooking up with a fat sausage, sliding into a reuben, or idling as choucroute. But this sauerkraut will be different. It will have the characteristic tang but hit you with a little heat, too. There will be potatoes, though their treatment is special. And, to top it all off, you’ll have rice to chow down with. Shocking.
Serves 4
Total time
1 hour
Equipment:
cutting board, chef’s knife or cleaver, colander, peeler, spider, small mixing bowl, chopsticks, wok shovel, clean kitchen towel, flat-bottomed wok, digital thermometer, reusable fry oil receptacle, “grease gutter” (small pan to pour off used oil), squirt bottle (for fresh oil)
Tableware:
serving bowl and utensils
Ingredients
4 potatoes, preferably a low-starch variety (ex: Red Bliss, Yukon Gold)
½ cup sauerkraut, without liquid
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 thai bird chile
4 garlic chives or scallions
Water, as needed
Peanut oil, as needed
Salt, as needed
Rice, for serving
Instructions
Set out all equipment, tableware, and ingredients. Rinse all produce.
Peel, and cut the potatoes into ¼-inch-thick half-moons.
Smash, peel, and thinly slice the garlic. De-stem, de-seed, and thinly slice the chile. Cut the garlic chives or scallions into 2-inch pieces on a bias.
Pour enough oil in a flat-bottomed wok to deep-fry. Heat over medium to 325°F.
Place a metal colander on a kitchen towel with fine sea salt nearby.
In small batches, deep-fry the potatoes until softened, but not yet colored. Allow the oil to return to 325°F between batches.
Transfer the potatoes to the colander after each batch, and lightly sprinkle salt over them.
Carefully pour the oil out of the wok into a heat-proof receptacle for reusable fry oil.
Preheat the wok over medium-high. Do not add more oil.
Add the sauerkraut, and toss until slightly dry. Remove to a small bowl.
Reheat the wok over medium-high. When lightly smoking, squirt in a tablespoon of oil, swirl to coat, dump excess oil into the grease gutter, reheat, and pour in 1 tbsp of fresh oil.
Add the garlic and chile, and stir until fragrant.
Turn the heat up to high, immediately add the deep-fried potatoes and sauerkraut, then toss until very hot and not greasy-looking.
Drizzle in the soy sauce, taste, then adjust with more if needed.
Toss in the garlic chives or scallions, then take off the heat.
Transfer to a serving bowl, and enjoy these potatoes like vegetables, with rice.
NUTRITION FACTS:
Calories 276 Total Fat 13.8g (18%) Saturated Fat 2.3g (12%) Cholesterol 0mg (0%) Sodium 250mg (11%) Total Carbohydrate 35.9g (13%) Dietary Fiber 6g (22%) Total Sugars 3.4g Protein 4.1g Vitamin D 0mcg (0%) Calcium 37mg (3%) Iron 2mg (9%) Potassium 942mg (20%) - Note: Please read our Nutrition Disclaimer.
Seth Paternostro is a writer and recipe developer based in Chicago. He is a co-founder of Our American Cuisine and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in East Asian Studies. You can learn more about him here.
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