Chef Juliette
Riz au Blanc (for Fowls and Eggs)
Riz au Blanc proves that plain rice is a technique, not an absence: parboil it in abundant salted water, drain it dry, then let butter and low oven heat separate every tender grain.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Topinambours Frits
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2272, Topinambours Frits, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Butter-tender Jerusalem artichokes in a crisp golden batter, fried only when the table is ready. The lesson is timing: cook the heart first, then protect the crust.
Side Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Weeknight
25 min
Active Time
25 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
Topinambours frits (battered and fried Jerusalem artichokes) teach the discipline of two cookings. The butter makes the knobbly tuber tender and nutty; the frying does not cook the centre, it gives that tender centre a crisp coat. Fry a raw slice and the crust will darken while the heart remains stubborn. That is the one true thing to know before you touch the pan.
The terse classical entry assumed a bowl of pâte à frire, a light frying batter, and a fryer held ready for service, with enough hands to cook the vegetable ahead and fry it only as the plates left the kitchen. Here the quantity is four generous side portions, the fryer is a heavy saucepan and thermometer, and one cook does the jobs in sequence. The standing fryer and service-scale mise en place are scaffolding and can go. Butter-cooking the slices and frying at the last moment are the dish, and they stay.
Done properly, the coating is thin, bubbled, and butter-gold, while the topinambour inside is creamy and faintly sweet. Cool and blot the butter-cooked slices before battering; if they go in warm and greasy, the coating slips, and no amount of frying can persuade it back. That cooling and drying is the step that decides the dish.
Topinambours frits belong to the French bourgeois and classical vegetable table rather than to one province, moving through Parisian markets into household side dishes and grand-kitchen garnishes. The tuber's French name rests on a Parisian confusion: it arrived as members of Brazil's Tupinambá people were being shown in the city, though they had no connection to it. Cooking before frying was the classical answer to its dense, irregular flesh, ensuring a tender centre before the batter ever met the fat.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Jerusalem artichokes
Quantity
About 4 cups thick slices (1⅓ pounds / 600 g)
peeled and cut ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g)
plain flour
Quantity
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (195 ml / 100 g)
divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
1¼ teaspoons (6.25 ml / 7.5 g)
divided
large egg
Quantity
1
separated
ice-cold sparkling water
Quantity
½ cup plus up to 2 tablespoons (120 to 150 ml / 120 to 150 g)
refined sunflower or peanut oil
Quantity
4 cups (950 ml / 870 g)
for frying
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Jerusalem artichokespeeled and cut ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick | About 4 cups thick slices (1⅓ pounds / 600 g) |
| unsalted butter | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) |
| plain flourdivided | ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (195 ml / 100 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1¼ teaspoons (6.25 ml / 7.5 g) |
| large eggseparated | 1 |
| ice-cold sparkling water | ½ cup plus up to 2 tablespoons (120 to 150 ml / 120 to 150 g) |
| refined sunflower or peanut oilfor frying | 4 cups (950 ml / 870 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) sauté pan with lid
- •3-quart (3-litre) heavy saucepan
- •Deep-frying thermometer
- •Wire rack set over a tray
- •Balloon whisk
- •Slotted spoon or frying skimmer
Instructions
- 1
Cut even slices
Scrub the topinambours, peel them with a vegetable peeler and small knife, then cut them crosswise into slices about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick. Keep the thickness even. Thin pieces collapse during their first cooking, while thick ones remain firm at the centre. Pat them thoroughly dry so the butter can coat them rather than spit.
- 2
Cook in butter
Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat until its foam settles but the milk solids remain pale. Add the topinambours in one layer and season with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, then turn the slices and continue uncovered for 6 to 9 minutes, turning occasionally, until pale gold and just tender when pierced with a small knife. Keep the heat patient. If the butter begins darkening before the centres soften, pull the pan from the burner for thirty seconds, lower the heat, and cover it again.
- 3
Cool and blot
Transfer the cooked slices to a wire rack and leave them for 10 minutes, then blot both sides gently with kitchen paper. They must be cool enough to handle and free of loose surface butter. Warm, greasy slices shed their coating in the frying oil; cooling and blotting give the batter something to hold.
- 4
Heat the frying oil
Pour the frying oil into a heavy 3-quart (3-litre) saucepan, leaving the pan no more than half full. Heat it to 350°F (175°C). Hold it between 350 and 360°F (175 and 182°C) while frying; cooler oil gives a heavy, oily crust, while excessive heat colours the batter before it becomes crisp.
Keep a fitted lid nearby and never leave the oil unattended. If it begins to smoke, turn off the heat and let the pan cool in place. Never put water near hot frying oil. - 5
Mix the pâte
While the oil heats, reserve the extra tablespoon of flour, then whisk the remaining ¾ cup flour with ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Whisk the egg yolk with ½ cup of the sparkling water and stir it into the flour only until smooth. Beat the egg white to soft peaks and fold it through gently. The pâte should coat a spoon in a thin veil. If it runs off like water, whisk in the reserved flour one teaspoon at a time; if it sits thickly, loosen it with the remaining sparkling water. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Fry at the last moment
When the table is ready, dip 5 or 6 topinambour slices into the pâte, let the excess fall back into the bowl, and lower them individually into the oil, moving away from your hand. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until evenly butter-gold and crisp. Let the oil regain 350°F (175°C) between batches. If a batch emerges pale and oily, drain it, bring the oil to 360°F (182°C), and fry it again for 30 to 45 seconds; the hotter finish will restore the crust.
- 7
Drain and serve
Lift each batch onto a clean wire rack rather than piling it onto paper, which traps moisture beneath the crust. Season immediately with the remaining salt and serve within 5 minutes, while the coating is crisp and the centres remain creamy. Frying early is the only shortcut that ruins this dish. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose small, firm topinambours without deep soft creases. Large knobbly ones are perfectly edible, but peeling them becomes an evening's philosophy lesson.
- •The first cooking must finish the vegetable. Test a centre slice with a small knife before taking the pan from the heat; the blade should enter easily, while the slice still holds together.
- •A thermometer earns its place here. The batter cools the oil with every batch, and waiting for the temperature to recover is what keeps the coating light rather than greasy.
- •Do not crowd or stack the fried slices. Air moving around them protects the crust during the few minutes needed to finish the remaining batches.
- •Leftovers can be reheated on a wire rack in a 425°F (220°C) oven for 6 to 8 minutes, but the fresh crust is finer. This is why the classical instruction says to fry at the last moment.
Advance Preparation
- •Peel, slice, and butter-cook the topinambours up to 6 hours ahead. Cool them on a rack, then refrigerate them in a single layer and blot them again before battering.
- •Measure the flour, water, and salt earlier in the day, but keep them separate. Separate the egg and refrigerate both parts, covered. Mix and fold the pâte only when the oil is nearly ready.
- •Set the serving platter, salt, rack, and skimmer in place before heating the oil. Once frying begins, the dish wants your full attention and an immediate journey to the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
505 calories
Total Fat
33 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
70 mg
Sodium
755 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
7 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Vegetables and Farinaceous Products - Rice, Tomatoes and Truffles
Browse the full collection
Chef Juliette
Riz au Gras
Parboiled Carolina rice meets butter and rich white consommé, then finishes covered in the oven, each grain savory, separate, and gleaming. The consommé does the seasoning, so taste it first.
Chef Juliette
Riz à la Grecque
Riz à la Grecque turns disciplined pilaff into supper with pork sausage, ciseled lettuce, green peas, and red capsicum, all folded in for the final seven minutes.
Chef Juliette
Riz à l’Indienne
Patna rice, boiled freely, washed until the water stays clear, then dried low and gentle. The washing is the dish: do it properly and every grain arrives light, dry, and separate.