What Are Slap Chips And What Makes Them Different From French Fries?

We love chips here at Tasting Table — golden and crispy, dunked in a good ketchup, barbecue, or an underrated dipping sauce with a sprinkle of salt. They're good with almost anything — burgers, hotdogs, pregos, steak, chicken, or just a plateful on its own. The list goes on and on.

There are many ways to make chips, from deep frying and oven baking to popping it in the air fryer for a less oily but still light and crispy finish. And there are different cuts of chips, from standard hand-cut chips and French fries to curly fries and potato wedges. In South Africa, one of the country's best loved types of chips are called slap (pronounced sl-up) chips. And I would know — I'm a born and bred SA local, and I'm mad about slap chips.

How do they differ from French fries? Well, your typical French fries are slim and long, and generally fried or baked until very crispy. They cook quickly at a temperature between 325 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit from frozen. Slap chips, on the other hand, are cut much thicker — five to six times the girth of a standard French fry — and are golden and crispy on the outside and soft and squishy on the inside. This comes from cooking it at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. It's quite floppy compared to French fries, and indeed, the word "slap" means floppy in Afrikaans, one of SA's 11 official languages.

Both French fries and slap chips are most often considered side dishes, served alongside your main course. But in SA, slap chips are also eaten as a meal because they're so filling. The traditional seasoning for slap chips is salt with a good dash of vinegar. That's how we used to get them at the corner shop when I was a young tyke — slap chips rolled up in a newspaper cone, salt chucked liberally over the top, and then vinegar squirted over that from your squeezy bottle. It was heaven, and in those days, cheap as, well, chips (pun intended).

The best type of potato for slap chips — or any homemade chips — is the russet potato, because it's fairly low on moisture and crisp up nicely on the outside, while the high starch content keeps it firm but still deliciously soft on the inside. To make slap chips, peel and cut your potatoes into fingers and soak them in room temperature water for 5 to 10 minutes to remove excess starch. 

Drain the chips and pat it dry, then deep fry it in hot oil until golden brown. Pop it onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb as much oil as possible. Then here's your big secret to slap chips: place it in an airtight container for two minutes — this makes it soft (or slap, as we say in SA). Season as you like, and enjoy every crispy, soft bite.