Sweet potato fries with secret sauce

Ingredients:

Sweet potato fries

• 900 g sweet potato, peeled and cut into 0.5 cm thick sticks, like French fries
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup seltzer water

Creamy BBQ sauce

• 0.5 cup Carolina mustard barbecue sauce (see recipe)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon homemade seasoning

Hot sauce

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. homemade seasoning
• 2 tsp hot sauce

Homemade seasoning

• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Special equipment: deep fat thermometer

Preparation:

1. Sweet potato fries:
   
   Soak the potatoes in cold water for 30 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Combine brown sugar, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Creamy BBQ sauce:
   
   Combine barbecue sauce, mayonnaise and homemade seasoning in a bowl.
   
   Hot sauce:
   
   In a separate bowl, combine ketchup, mayonnaise, homemade seasoning, and hot sauce.
   
   Homemade seasoning:
   
   In a small bowl, combine garlic and onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Store in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
3. French fries:
   
   Pour 7 cm of vegetable oil into a cauldron. Heat the oil to 160°C. Line the rack with paper towels.
4. In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and seltzer water. Dip the sweet potatoes in the cornstarch batter, working in batches, to coat each piece completely. The coating will be thin. Stir the mixture after each batch. Fry the sweet potatoes in batches until they float to the top, 1-2 minutes. The fries will not be browned at this point. Transfer to a wire rack to drain off excess oil.
5. Heat oil to 175°C.
6. Fry the sweet potatoes a second time, in batches, until golden brown and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a lined wire rack to drain. Immediately sprinkle with brown sugar seasoning. Serve immediately with dipping sauces.