We had never attempted to deep fry a whole celery root. That is often the catalyst for trying a new idea. We washed, scrubbed, and dried three roots of different sizes. We placed them into a 350°F fryer and submerged them in the hot oil. The skins darkened and crinkled. After 15 minutes had passed, we used a cake tester to see if they were hot inside. They were. We removed them from the fryer and let them rest at room temperature to carry-over cook and cool.
When the deep fried celery roots cooled to room temperature we sliced them. The smallest was the most translucent. The largest (pictured here), as would be expected, was the least translucent, but still cooked through. Pieces sampled from all three were firm, meaty, juicy, and sweet, with a rich celery flavor. The skin was toasty and fully edible. We ended up serving the fried celery roots sliced and drizzled with a bit of spicy cherry pepper caramel.
Years Past
November 6, 2010
