Forget chips – Poppy O’Toole’s salt and vinegar crispy cubes steal the show

For those who live for the golden, vinegary shards at the bottom of a chip cone, this is your dream side dish. Poppy O’Toole’s crispy potato cubes are sharp, salty and dangerously moreish

Like the best bits at the bottom of a chip cone – but better (Ellis Parrinder)

“If you’re the sort of person who delves to the depths of the chip cone for those crispy scraps bobbing about in a sea of vinegar, this is the recipe for you,” says chef and food writer Poppy O’Toole.

“These cubes are perfect served alongside battered cod and some fluorescent curry sauce.”

Salt and vinegar crispy cubes

Ingredients:

1kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

100ml malt vinegar, plus extra to serve

4 tbsp neutral oil

Flaky salt, to serve

Method:

An entire book dedicated to the world’s greatest carb? Finally (Bloomsbury)

1. Get your potatoes into a saucepan of heavily salted, cold water. Add the vinegar, place the pan over a high heat and bring the liquid to the boil. Reduce the heat and leave on a gentle boil for 5-7 minutes, until the potatoes fall off the tip of a knife.

2. Drain in a colander. Place the colander over the pan on the turned-off hob, cover with a clean tea towel and leave the potatoes to steam-dry for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/gas 6 and get the oil into a baking tray. Pop the tray into the oven to get the oil hot. This is important for getting that crispy crunchiness.

4. Once the potatoes have steam-dried, get the hot tray out of the oven, carefully tip in the potatoes and turn to coat.

5. Roast the potatoes for 30 minutes, then give them a mix and put them back in the oven for a further 15 minutes, until super-golden and crunchy. Keep an eye on them in case they need less or more time. (Alternatively, you can fry them in a fryer).

6. Serve sprinkled with flaky salt and an extra dousing of vinegar.

Recipe from ‘The Potato Book’ by Poppy Cooks (Bloomsbury, £22).