Konnichiwa, sushi fries
A new-age kind of chips, made with rice, kale or polenta, are a big restaurant hit.
IHWatch the video at nzherald.co.nz t’s sushi and fries, but neither as you’ve likely eaten before.
Rectangular globs of sticky rice shaped and dipped in a delicate tempura batter are being offered for $9 a bowl at Mt Eden’s Wu and You.
Served with a ramen seasoning and a creamy spicy sauce, the side is billed as “sushi fries”, although the fluffy sticks are a bit less salty and a little sweeter than your average chip.
The sauce, a blend of Korean spice paste and Japanese mayo, adds a nice kick of flavour.
Wu and You opened last Wednesday and the Asian fusion eatery is going through as much as 4kg of rice a day to meet demand.
Restaurant manager Nixon Sherchan said the team wanted to try a new take on an old classic.
“Everywhere you go fries are so popular, and everyone is doing the same kind of fries.
“Since it’s an Asian place and we use rice a lot, we thought ‘why don’t we do fries with rice’.”
Customers were so far enthusiastic about the dish, Sherchan said.
“They say it’s nice. It’s tasty, it’s different and they’ve never tried it before.”
A bowl of hot chips covered in salt are a favourite among small children, barflies and everyone in between.
But in recent years Auckland restaurants have branched out beyond the spud, with everything from polenta to kale taking the place of the carbo-loaded potato.
So how many times can restaurateurs reinvent the wheel?
Coco’s Cantina on Karangahape Rd was among the first to try a new chip, serving plates of polenta chips and garlic aioli sprinkled with herbs which quickly became world famous in Auckland.
Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the hearty snack pairs perfectly with an after-work drink.
In Parnell, Simon and Lee’s tteokbokki — cylindrical Korean rice cakes which are fried until slightly crisp and then seasoned — are enough to make you wish you’d ordered a beer, said Canvas reviewer Kim Knight.
And for the clean-eating crowd, chips have been reinvented in the form of kale.
Fried and salted or simply dried, kale chips can be found at several locations in Auckland city including Little Bird’s Unbakery in Ponsonby, where they are served with a kimchi and chickpea burger on a lettuce “bun”.
Loaded fries with lots on top, of the kind you can find at Tiger Burger in Grey Lynn (piled high with mayo and kimchi), the CBD’s Kimchi Project (same deal, but the fries are waffled rather than straight cut) or Carmen Jones on Karangahape Rd (covered in sauce, crackling and tiny squares of pork belly), have also elevated the humble spud recently.
Simon Gault’s new waterfront venture, Giraffe, takes things a step further on the fancy front, wrapping every duck fat-fried chip individually with pancetta.
And, if you’re a purist who enjoys a good bargain, Swashbucklers Restaurant on the Viaduct will do you a good old fashioned bowl of fries — for only $4.