Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I liked deep frying my food, like french fries, fish, tempura and the likes before I went paleo a few months ago. Now I would like to toss out the sunflower oil and start deep frying in lard or maybe coconutoil (lard is cheaper here ;) ).

But what the heck could I fry in it which is still paleo? I could toss in pieces of chicken, delicious, maybe chicken wings, cheat a little and put in french fries, but I would like to have some more ideas.

I searched the web, but found nothing satisfying yet. Any ideas? What do you like to deep fry?

flag	asked Mar 27 2012 at 20:44 TerraGuy 616●2●8

Squid, oysters, and prawns. Dip in egg, dip in almond flour coating, proceed to love life. – JeJ Mar 28 2012 at 0:41

greymouser · Answer 1 · 2012-03-27 21:08:50Z UTC

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Deep frying is never paleo. Never. At best, one could claim using paleo-safe ingredients makes the dish "paleo-ified" or something. Meh, I'm just a pedant, though.

Having said that, I'm also a hypocrite ;-) - I use coconut oil to deep fry some starches, like (actual) yams. I tend to roast sweet potatoes in the oven with olive oil, but I have deep fried them in the past. I boil cassava first, which then does well with just some olive oil roasted in the oven.

I don't fry my meats or fish. Pan-fry, certainly, but not deep-fry.

answered Mar 27 2012 at 21:08

greymouser
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Could you elaborate why deep frying is never paleo? – Wuism Mar 27 2012 at 22:22

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Deep-frying is totally paleo! It's paleo in the same way that cooking in butter in a saute pan is paleo, and boiling eggs is paleo, and rendering lard, clarifying butter, and purchasing grass-fed beef from the grocery store is paleo. – Christopher Gagnon Mar 27 2012 at 23:20

Yeah, I shallow-fry in lard all the time, I don't see a huge difference when I jump to deep frying. I don't do it often, but I love me some squid fried in lard. I wouldn't say that it is never, ever okay... – JeJ Mar 28 2012 at 0:39

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I think @Christopher actually summarized what I would say to clarify this point. I might also add that using good oils for deep frying is somewhat wasteful. Regardless, I'm sticking to it that deep frying is for "paleo-ified" foods at best. – greymouser Mar 28 2012 at 4:17

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From one pedant to another, I would not disagree. But I would go further, to say that almost anything we eat now is at best "paleo-ified." Or make that "paleo-fried," in this case. I know it's not the best idea, but life is to be enjoyed, not merely endured, and deep fried food is one joy I'm willing to endure! As regards the wastefulness, I console my guilty conscience with the knowledge that the amount of oil I waste with my occasional frying pales in comparison to the oil most people send out their tail pipes each day. (That''s my sanctimonious car-free rationalization at work, here....) – Christopher Gagnon Mar 28 2012 at 5:06

MayaBee · Answer 2 · 2012-03-27 21:07:49Z UTC

I recommend the chicken fried recipe in Paleo Comfort Foods - its a great book anyway but the paleo "crumbed" chicken fried in coconut oil and finished in the oven is a great treat.

However I wouldn't recommend you overdo the deep frying!

HA · Answer 3 · 2012-03-27 22:47:19Z UTC

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I use bacon drippings for my deep frying. Sweet potatoes (especially blanched, then fried) are fabulous. Or potato or sweet potato chips are delightful.

answered Mar 27 2012 at 22:47

HA
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Lindsay · Answer 4 · 2012-03-27 23:44:49Z UTC

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two words for you: duck fat.

answered Mar 27 2012 at 23:44

Lindsay
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	I don't need a recipe for duck fat.. ;) But I'm gonna stick with tallow come to think of it, you can buy it in every grocery store here (in the Netherlands) and it's quit cheap. – TerraGuy Mar 27 2012 at 23:53
	Fries were always meant to be fried in duck fat (in two steps), none of this "vegetable shortening" nonsense ... – cerement Oct 16 at 1:17

ET · Answer 5 · 2012-04-06 18:01:05Z UTC

Until all of us modern-city-dwellers advocates of paleo abandon the city and instead adopt a nomadic lifestyle and hunt and skin our own game and pick our own wild berries and grasses, any notion of "paleo" is at best an aproximation and at worst a cult. Paleo is a principle: to adapt our modern standards of living to the foods and activities our bodies evolved to sustain in order to live more productive and enjoyable lives. Using paleo-type ingredients and mixing them with modern cooking technology is not only acceptable, but the only way to make the paleo lifestyle possible and affordable. What, are you not going to freeze your deer sausage because paleolithic man did not freeze meat? Are you not going to refrigerate your eggs becaue paleolithic man did not refrigerate? So then what is wrong with using a stove, a pan and lard to fry your patty and coconut oil to deep fry your egg?

spence · Answer 6 · 2012-03-27 21:45:24Z UTC

Beef dripping is a great fat for deep frying. Cheap too. The other day I bought a load of fish, cut it into goujons, dipped them in egg, then ground almonds. Hey presto, paleo fish fingers. I also have a mandolin with a rippled blade. Set shallow I run sweet potato through (turning 90 degrees each pass). It gives a great lattice shape and they crisp up great in the fryer. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and you have a winner.

Christopher Gagnon · Answer 7 · 2012-03-27 23:34:31Z UTC

I use a mandoline (or a good knife) to shave nearly paper-thin slices of peeled, raw sweet potato, which I fry in coconut oil until crispy, then salt generously. I came to this "recipe" after getting desperate for something crispy like a chip or cracker--I was sick of dipping cucumber slices and jicama into guacamole!

I usually use these chips as a substitute for tortilla chips (w/salsa, guacamole, "nachos"). But they taste so mild, they work well with almost any spread or dip. And although the coconut oil seems fragrant, the chips themselves only taste faintly of coconut, in my opinion.

By the way, my favorite variety is one that's purple on the outside and white on the inside--it doesn't taste as sweet as an orange-colored sweet potato, so I think it works a little better for savory foods.

Michael · Answer 8 · 2012-04-07 07:44:21Z UTC

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This PHD/Jaminet page might be interesting for you...

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4098

answered Apr 7 2012 at 7:44

Michael
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Herc · Answer 9 · 2012-10-16 00:39:22Z UTC

Hunt deer, save deer "suet", render fat, strain and you'll have liquid deer tallow. Let it cool; it will harden and have the look/texture of white soap with little to no odor. Freeze and/or keep air tight to preserve. Bang; you have a truly "paleo" cooking "oil". Do any of you actually believe hunter/gatherers didn't figure out a LONG LONG time ago that their vegetables and tubers, etc tasted 100 times more delicious when cooked/heated in this stuff? The key to "paleo deep frying"..? We never used to cook anything in an "oil", or rather, in something that was liquid at room temperature (this doesn't make palm oil paleo btw) We cooked in animal fat/lard/tallow and it was/still is delicious... and its healthier for humans to consume compared to the popular vegetable oils most people use today. Hunter/gatherers didnt have vegetable oils for cooking... like next to never/not at all/practically nonexistant in our evolutionary history... why would it all of a sudden be a better fit in our diets? Lol, it wouldnt be, evoultion is too perfect for that..

Paleo deep frying recipes?

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