crispy roast potatoes with sticky soy glaze

warning: extremely addictive

these potatoes are the best thing i’ve made this year or i’m just truly obsessed with them and being completely unreasonable; either way, i’m cool with it.

the roasting method i use here is a well-known and loved one that first reached me via j. kenji lópez-alt (which reached him via the brits). while it’s a technique i’ve known about for awhile, i never really used it much until recently and i’ll now be the first to admit and acknowledge that it is perhaps my favorite potato roasting method of all time. the key to getting that deeply burnished crust is actually similar to what you do when you want to pretzel-ize something: give it an alkaline bath. you just peel, chop and boil the potatoes in that bath, rough them up a bit to get some craggy bits on the outsides, then toss with oil and roast into crispy oblivion.

as i was roasting off a tray of these last week, i had one of condiment clarie’s latest newsletters about soy lemon butter in my head. i checked my fridge and pantry and had everything i needed to experiment with pairing that flavor combination and my roast potato obsession. i tried a few different things, but settled on this really simple glaze which i think hits all the tasting notes that you could want (savory, salty, sweet, bright) while also adding that rich, sticky (dare i say sexy?) gloss.

that being said, minus the shimmering soy glaze, the potatoes just need a sprinkle of salt and something to dip them in and you’re good to go. i’ve made them twice in the past three days and for that i do not apologize.

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for the potatoes

750 grams potatoes (in germany use vorwiegend festkochend potatoes, in the us use an all-purpose potato like yukon gold)

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

for the sticky soy glaze

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon black vinegar (substitute: rice wine vinegar)

1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon juice and 1 teaspoon zest)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

flaky sea salt

ground white pepper (substitute: black pepper)

1. peel the potatoes, then chop into relatively large chunks (most potatoes can just be quartered) and add to a pot with enough cold water to cover the potatoes, salt and baking soda. bring to a boil over medium-high heat and let cook until just fork tender, about 10 minutes; to prevent the pot from boiling over, stick a wooden spoon into it while it boils. while the potatoes are boiling, preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F.

2. drain the potatoes in a colander, then add back to the pot you boiled them in and let them steam out, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. after they’ve released most the steam, cover the pot and shake it around vigorously (and carefully, since it will still be hot) until you get a sort of thick paste around the potatoes like in the photo below. add to a baking sheet and drizzle with the oil then bake for about 45 minutes, flipping/tossing halfway through.

   

3. when the potatoes have about 10 minutes left to roast, add the soy sauce, honey, vinegar and lemon juice to a small sauce or frying pan over medium heat. let cook and reduce, swirling the pan often, for about 5 minutes, or until thickened and bubbling vigorously. remove from the heat and swirl in the butter to melt.

4. once the potatoes are done roasting they’ll be deeply browned and crisp on the outside. drizzle them with the glaze and the lemon zest directly on the baking sheet (or transfer everything to a large bowl) and toss to combine until the potatoes are evenly coated in the glaze. serve immediately with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt and ground white pepper.