Latest news with #FrenchFries
SoraNews24
5 days ago
- General
- SoraNews24
A touch of class and glass brings out the best in Japan's Hata Premium soda pop
Rumors of ramune's demise were greatly exaggerated. There was a time in Japan where ramune was the soda of choice for kids and adults, whether at festivals, cooling down after some time in a bathhouse, or while visiting candy stores. It came in a very unique glass bottle design where the opening was stopped by a vacuum-sealed glass marble which you had to pop out of place to access the sweet beverage inside. However, in the later years of the 20th century, competition in the soft drink market grew more intense. The design of ramune's recyclable glass bottles became harder to maintain, even more so with the advent of cheaper plastic bottles. Ramune also largely made the switch to plastic, but by that time, its market share had already shrunk significantly. You can probably still get it in a lot of supermarkets and traditional candy stores, but finding some in one of Japan's many convenience stores is rare. ▼ I used to buy mine in souvenir shops, back when Hata Kosen was doing inventive flavors like French Fries and Kimchi. However, leading ramune producer, Hata Kosen in Osaka, is hoping to bring the drink back to its former glory with Hata Premium. The actual drink is largely unchanged from regular ramune, because if something isn't broke, there's really no need to fix it. But the presentation is on a whole other level. The bottle has an interesting optical illusion where the top compartment that the marble sits in looks completely separate from the bottom. Also, if you're either as unlucky or as uncoordinated as I am and find popping the marble often results in soda exploding everywhere, Hata Premium can be bought with a dedicated wooden popper that appears to be more stable and should reduce the chances of messy explosions. It can also be purchased with standard plastic poppers for a lower price, but I'd say the wooden one is worth the investment. ▼ This is a typical scene when I use a plastic popper. A special launch event was held in Tokyo's upscale Omotesando area, during which a bartender from the stylish Bar_Museum in Ebisu prepared Gin Ramune and Salty Dog Ramune cocktails using Hata Premium. Currently, Hata Premium is only sold online by the case. A case of 20 bottles costs 7,776 yen (US$53) with a wooden popper and 6,480 yen ($44) with plastic ones. However, bottles will also be given out at select hotels and events from late July to early August, so if you're lucky, you might just get a taste of the soda high life while on the road this summer. But even if you can't, it's still worth it to try some regular ramune while in Japan. I only wish Hata Kosen would bring back that excellent Kimchi Ramune, or better yet: Hata Premium Kimchi! Hata Premium Sample Giveaway Locations 2 , 3, 9, 10, 11 August – Ashimizu at Tokyo Midtown Roppongi 18 July – APA Hotel & Resort Osaka Umeda Tower and Osaka Nambe Ekimae Tower 25 July – APA Hotel & Resort Roppongi East, Nishi-Shinjuku-Gochome Station Tower, Ryogoku Station Tower, and Tokyo Bay Shiomi 2 August – APA Hotel & Resort Tokyo Bay Makuhari 9 August – APA Hotel & Resort Niigata Ekimae Odori, Myoko, Sapporo, and Hakata Ekimae East Source: PR Times Featured image: PR Times Insert images: PR Times, © SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Asked 5 Chefs for the Best Frozen Fries, and Their Favorite Is a McDonald's Copycat
This winner is "the real deal." As much as we agree with Allrecipes member Joanna Guido, who believes Chef John's French Fries are "by far the best french fries I have ever made, and easier than you think," we're not too proud to admit that we always keep a bag of frozen fries in stock. Often, about once per week, they fly in to save the day when we're crunched for time and are in need of a quick side dish or snack. Turns out, we're in great company. After connecting with chefs from coast to coast, we realized that they occasionally outsource the prep work, too. Food blogger and cookbook author MacKenzie Smith admits, "I totally eat them straight from my child's abandoned plate like a raccoon over a campsite trash can." (It's not our proudest moment, but same, MacKenzie. Same.) Just because we farm out the scrubbing, slicing, and frying doesn't mean that we're willing to sacrifice on quality, though. When we're adding frozen fries to the menu, we want the best money can buy—and we think you deserve the finest fries, too. To help determine which brand is worth your buck, we asked popular chefs to dish about their favorites…and how to make them taste just as good as homemade or restaurant fries. Our Panel of Fry-Rating Chefs George Duran, a celebrity chef in New York City Dina Deleasa Gonsar, the Whippany, New Jersey-based recipe developer behind Dish It Girl and the author of "At the Kitchen Sink" Mary Payne Moran, chef and owner of The Silver Lake Kitchen cooking school in Los Angeles and the author of "The Vita Gang Mysteries: Who Stole Vita D?" MacKenzie Schultz, a sous chef at Harbinger in Des Moines, Iowa MacKenzie Smith, a New Smyrna Beach, Florida-based food blogger and author of "Grilled Cheese Social" Qualities of the Best Frozen Fries For all the chefs we spoke to, they're seeking a fry that's similar to what you can get from a fast food restaurant. "If they snap when you bite 'em but are still puffy inside, we're in," mom of two MacKenzie says. The culinary pros agree that the best frozen fries check these boxes: Real potato flavor. When it comes to frozen fries, celebrity chef George Duran looks for spuds that can impersonate from-scratch spuds. "I want them to taste like I didn't just pull them out of the freezer. In fact, I look for real potato flavor with a crispy exterior that doesn't require hours of work to achieve perfection." Crispy exterior. Speaking of that surface area, it was the most important feature for our chefs. "I seek out frozen fries that I know I can get crispy no matter what," says sous chef MacKenzie Schultz. "Some frozen fries are battered or actually designed to be super crispy every time. I always splurge on those because most of the time, they are worth the extra buck or two." Thick-cut fries can be far more finicky than thinner ones, the chefs agree, so they reach for fries that are the sweet spot between steak and shoestring. "The fries must crisp up nicely in the air fryer or oven," MacKenzie Smith adds. "Let's be real, ain't nobody got time to bust out a deep fryer on a Tuesday!" A short ingredient list. One easy-to-check factor that's a sign the potato flavor can really shine: a compact ingredient list. Recipe developer Dina Deleasa Gonsar avoids unnecessary additives and looks for a recipe that includes potatoes, salt and oil, and ideally, little or nothing else. Or, as chef and cooking school owner Mary Payne Moran explains, "Fries should not be overly sweet or loaded with a fake flavor." Structural integrity. Since a big part of the fry-enjoyment formula involves dunking or smothering (We're looking at you, poutine!), George says the cooked fries must be able to "hold up to dips without disintegrating like a soap opera villain. If they turn to mush, it's a hard pass." The Best Frozen Fries, According to Chefs It was a remarkably close competition, but winning by a drop of ketchup, the best frozen fries are Alexia. They look and taste like potato sticks you'd make yourself, "not a mashup of processed boiled potato starch," George says. "These are the real deal," he adds. His family is particularly fond of Alexia's Organic Yukon Select Fries With a Touch of Sea Salt, which are just thick enough with a crispy exterior and a tender, fluffy interior. Mary and Dina agree. George tells Allrecipes that they are pan-fried before seasoning. "So they don't need a seasoning to get crispy," he says. "Just pop them in the convection oven or air fryer and you're golden. Literally." Dina adores the fact that you can rely on the package directions for the oven or air fryer, which "consistently yield a crispy texture," she confirms. "And the seasonings they use are usually quite good." Mary chimes in to compare these to those fresh-cut In-N-Out fries, since they're so unfussy and potato-forward. George thinks Alexia fries are akin to what McDonald's fries used to be. "Back in the 1980s, McDonald's fries felt like they came from actual potatoes," he reminisces. "One bite and you knew you had reached fried potato heaven. Since the '90s, McDonald's fries have changed into these engineered starchy spears that seem to have lost some of their spud glory. However, Alexia Yukon Fries are here to save the day." Honorable Mention Coming in a close second with two votes to Alexia's three, the runner-up in our best frozen fries competition is Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries. MacKenzie Smith deems them the "gold standard" in her house. "They're basically the Michelin star of toddler-approved food," she says, because her kiddos think they taste like McDonald's. MacKenzie Schultz agrees, calling Ore-Ida a solid "McDonald's fry dupe!" The "Extra Crispy" billing isn't a fib, MacKenzie Schultz verifies. They follow through on the promise of "having the luxury of having fast food fries in the freezer," according to the sous chef. "And who wouldn't want that?!" If you follow the label directions (especially the air fryer method—chefs' favorite way to prep frozen fries), MacKenzie Smith says the fries "crisp up fast, don't require babysitting, and have a nice neutral flavor base. She adds, "They're perfect for loading up with flaky salt for me and my hubby and going easy for the kiddos. Everyone wins." How to Upgrade Frozen Fries While these fries are fabulous as-is, if you'd like to take them to "chef's kiss" territory, the pros suggest: Transform them into Parmesan garlic truffle fries. Dip them into sriracha aioli. Load them up with melted mozzarella and gravy. Pair them with homemade ranch. Fry them in beef tallow or another flavorful fat. Read the original article on ALLRECIPES Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spud-tacular: How India became a french fry superpower
French fries turned around the fortunes of Jitesh Patel. He comes from a family of farmers in Gujarat in the northwest of India. Traditionally they grew cotton, but the returns were poor. Droughts in 2001 and 2002 made the situation worse and the Patels knew things had to change. "We realised that we had to start growing something that does not require lot of water," Mr Patel says. So, they experimented with potatoes. Initially they tried table potatoes; the kind available in local markets and cooked at home, but the returns weren't much better than cotton. Spurred by the arrival of french fry makers in their state, in 2007 they started growing the varieties of potato used by the food industry. It turned out to be a winning strategy. "Since then, no looking back," says Mr Patel. Mr Patel is part of India's rise to potato superpower status. It is already the world's second biggest spud producer. But it's the export market, particularly of french fries, that's really flying. Gujarat has become India's capital of french fry production, home to huge factories churning out chips, including facilities belonging to Canadian giant McCain Foods and India's biggest maker of French Fries, HyFun Foods. From Gujarat fries are sent all over over the world. But the most important markets at the moment are in Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, according to Devendra K, who has been studying the potato market for many years. In February of this year, monthly exports of Indian frozen fries broke the 20,000 tonnes barrier for the first time. In the year to February, India's fry exports totalled 181,773 tonnes, a 45% increase compared with the previous year. The success is partly down to price. "Indian frozen fries are noted for being competitively priced in the international market," says Devendra. He says that in 2024, the average price of Indian fries was even cheaper than those from China. For the french fry makers, it's boom time. "India has emerged as a significant player and exporter due to its abundant agricultural produce, cost-effective manufacturing, and growing focus on quality standards," says Haresh Karamchandani, CEO of HyFun Foods. HyFun has seven plants processing potatoes in Gujarat with another two coming online by 2026. "Urbanisation, increasing disposable incomes and changing lifestyles have promoted the consumption of frozen foods, not only in the household but also in food service establishments," says Mr Karamchandani. Meeting that demand has required decades of innovation from farmers. Jitesh Patel studied agriculture at university and has been applying science to farming ever since. Along with friends and family they are continuously trying to improve their potato yield. "We are a well educated bunch of farmers, so we keep trying new methods," he says. One of their first innovations, back in 2003, was to switch to a drip system of irrigation, rather than flooding fields with water. To keep the soil productive the fields are rested over the summer, and fertilised with cow manure. Their focus now is finding the perfect potato plant. "We are in the process of experimenting with seeds and soon we will have a new variety," he says. Jain Irrigation Systems is a large agricultural technology company. As well as selling irrigation equipment, it has teams of technicians developing seeds for agriculture, including potato plants. They use a set of techniques known as tissue culture. It's a way of cloning plants, with desirable traits and eliminating disease. It involves growing small pieces of plant tissue in a controlled laboratory environment to create virus-free plantlets. These plantlets can then be used to produce more seed potatoes through methods like taking cuttings. "Potato seeds destined for future seed production undergo meticulous breeding practices under the supervision of breeders," says Vijay Singh, vice president of marketing at the company. One issue they are tackling at the moment concerns a variety of potatoes used to make chips. Farmers found that by November the potato crop starts to go brown because of its sugar content. "Companies like us who are into tissue culture are trying to come up with a new variety to overcome the challenges that the industry is facing," says Mr Singh. While Indian farmers are working on improving their yields, investment is needed elsewhere in the frozen food industry. In particular, firms need to be able to store and transport goods at sub-zero temperatures. Modern cold storage facilities have been built, but more are needed. "Only about 10–15% of India's cold storage facilities are suitable for storing frozen foods," says Vijay Kumar Nayak, co-founder of Indo Agri Foods, an exporter of Indian food. "These facilities are unevenly distributed, heavily concentrated in a few states, leaving rural and remote regions severely underserved. Transportation is a problem as well. "There is a notable shortage of specialised refrigerated trucks and containers, making temperature-controlled transportation extremely difficult and increasing the risk of spoilage," he says. A reliable electricity supply is also essential. "Frequent power outages in many parts of the country increase the chances of spoilage and make running a reliable frozen food supply chain a daunting task," says Mr Nayak. "Indian companies face intense competition in export markets from countries like China, Thailand and Brazil. These nations benefit from more advanced logistics, infrastructure, and production systems," he points out. Back at his Gujarat farm Mr Patel is happy that the chip makers moved in. "Gujarat has become a food processing hub. Most of the farmers, including me, have become contract farmers which gives us security and good money for our yield," he says. 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BBC News
17-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Spud-tacular: How India became a french fry superpower
French fries turned around the fortunes of Jitesh comes from a family of farmers in Gujarat in the northwest of India. Traditionally they grew cotton, but the returns were poor. Droughts in 2001 and 2002 made the situation worse and the Patels knew things had to change. "We realised that we had to start growing something that does not require lot of water," Mr Patel they experimented with potatoes. Initially they tried table potatoes; the kind available in local markets and cooked at home, but the returns weren't much better than by the arrival of french fry makers in their state, in 2007 they started growing the varieties of potato used by the food industry. It turned out to be a winning strategy."Since then, no looking back," says Mr Patel. Mr Patel is part of India's rise to potato superpower status. It is already the world's second biggest spud it's the export market, particularly of french fries, that's really flying. Gujarat has become India's capital of french fry production, home to huge factories churning out chips, including facilities belonging to Canadian giant McCain Foods and India's biggest maker of French Fries, HyFun Gujarat fries are sent all over over the world. But the most important markets at the moment are in Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, according to Devendra K, who has been studying the potato market for many years. In February of this year, monthly exports of Indian frozen fries broke the 20,000 tonnes barrier for the first time. In the year to February, India's fry exports totalled 181,773 tonnes, a 45% increase compared with the previous success is partly down to price."Indian frozen fries are noted for being competitively priced in the international market," says Devendra. He says that in 2024, the average price of Indian fries was even cheaper than those from China. For the french fry makers, it's boom time."India has emerged as a significant player and exporter due to its abundant agricultural produce, cost-effective manufacturing, and growing focus on quality standards," says Haresh Karamchandani, CEO of HyFun has seven plants processing potatoes in Gujarat with another two coming online by 2026."Urbanisation, increasing disposable incomes and changing lifestyles have promoted the consumption of frozen foods, not only in the household but also in food service establishments," says Mr Karamchandani. Meeting that demand has required decades of innovation from Patel studied agriculture at university and has been applying science to farming ever since. Along with friends and family they are continuously trying to improve their potato yield."We are a well educated bunch of farmers, so we keep trying new methods," he of their first innovations, back in 2003, was to switch to a drip system of irrigation, rather than flooding fields with keep the soil productive the fields are rested over the summer, and fertilised with cow focus now is finding the perfect potato plant."We are in the process of experimenting with seeds and soon we will have a new variety," he says. Jain Irrigation Systems is a large agricultural technology company. As well as selling irrigation equipment, it has teams of technicians developing seeds for agriculture, including potato use a set of techniques known as tissue culture. It's a way of cloning plants, with desirable traits and eliminating disease. It involves growing small pieces of plant tissue in a controlled laboratory environment to create virus-free plantlets. These plantlets can then be used to produce more seed potatoes through methods like taking cuttings."Potato seeds destined for future seed production undergo meticulous breeding practices under the supervision of breeders," says Vijay Singh, vice president of marketing at the issue they are tackling at the moment concerns a variety of potatoes used to make chips. Farmers found that by November the potato crop starts to go brown because of its sugar content. "Companies like us who are into tissue culture are trying to come up with a new variety to overcome the challenges that the industry is facing," says Mr Singh. While Indian farmers are working on improving their yields, investment is needed elsewhere in the frozen food particular, firms need to be able to store and transport goods at sub-zero cold storage facilities have been built, but more are needed."Only about 10–15% of India's cold storage facilities are suitable for storing frozen foods," says Vijay Kumar Nayak, co-founder of Indo Agri Foods, an exporter of Indian food. "These facilities are unevenly distributed, heavily concentrated in a few states, leaving rural and remote regions severely is a problem as well. "There is a notable shortage of specialised refrigerated trucks and containers, making temperature-controlled transportation extremely difficult and increasing the risk of spoilage," he says. A reliable electricity supply is also essential."Frequent power outages in many parts of the country increase the chances of spoilage and make running a reliable frozen food supply chain a daunting task," says Mr Nayak."Indian companies face intense competition in export markets from countries like China, Thailand and Brazil. These nations benefit from more advanced logistics, infrastructure, and production systems," he points out. Back at his Gujarat farm Mr Patel is happy that the chip makers moved in. "Gujarat has become a food processing hub. Most of the farmers, including me, have become contract farmers which gives us security and good money for our yield," he says.
USA Today
11-07-2025
- General
- USA Today
Celebrate National French Fry Day 2025 with 6 deals, free fries
Hey! It's National French Fry Day 2025! Wahoo! Fries rule! That's right, friends, it's time once again for the day to celebrate potatoes fried in oil, and this time it's on Saturday, July 11, 2025. Why is Friday, July 11 National French Fry Day? Maybe because it's a "Fry Day" and we eat lots of fries during the summer or something? I have no idea, but free or discounted French Fries is the key thing here that we're focused on, and we want you to get that as soon as humanly possible. So let's stop writing about the why and get to the important stuff here: A list of some chains that we've found who will give something away or sell you something for less than the usual price: Burger King If you're a rewards member, you can get free fries if you spend at least $1 on Friday. Shake Shack Use the code FREEFRY in their app and you can get a free fries. McDonald's If you use their app through Sunday and spend at least $1, you can get a free medium fries. Carl's Jr. If you're a rewards member, you can get free fries if you use their app, site or visit the store. Wendy's Order online or in the app and you can get free Hot & Crispy Fries with purchase. Fatburger Use the code FRYDAY25 to get fat or skinny fries for free with your purchase of a sandwich or a burger. Jack in the Box Any order will get you free fries.
