Chips and Dip - Roy Choi

 CHIPS AND DIP

In high school, I loved that onion dip you’d find in the refrigerated aisle at American supermarkets. Man, that was so other world for me. Sometimes my parents would come back from a trip to the supermarket with onion dip and other weird-ass things they pulled off the shelves as they walked down the bright aisles—canned ham, flavored onion packets, pork and beans. And we’d store them all away alongside the fish paste in the pantry and the kimchi in the fridge. Any Asian kid, from Pinoy to Viet to Korean, had parents who did the same thing. For my version of chips and dip, I just wanted to pay homage to how we integrated into American life.

MAKES ENOUGH CHIPS AND DIP FOR 6 TO 8

DIP

2 cups sour cream

½ cup fresh lime juice

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons kosher salt

¼ cup grated fresh horseradish

Splash of Tabasco sauce

½ cup chopped fresh herbs, any herbs you want

CHIPS

1 pound taro root

1 pound Idaho potatoes

Fine sea salt

2 cups vegetable oil

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dip and set aside.

In a deep fryer or other deep pot, heat the oil to 300°F.

Wash and peel the taro and slice it thinly on a slicer like a Japanese benriner or a mandoline. Soak the slices in water to preserve their color.

Wash and thinly slice the potato lengthwise and store in water.

Layer a sheet pan with paper towels. When you’re ready to fry, drain and pat dry with paper towels the taro root and potatoes and start flipping the chips into the fryer, being sure not to overcrowd the basket. Then swirl everything around with a spider spatula.

Swish them around from time to time until the chips are a light brown color all around, about 1 minute; then immediately transfer them to the paper-towel-lined pan and season with salt while hot.

Repeat with all the chips until done.

Make about 30 percent more than you anticipate eating because you will eat that extra 30 percent as you cook them. Leftover dip will keep, covered and stored in the fridge, for 3 days.

Enjoy my sour cream and onion bag of chips.