Backyard Hermit’s Scrumptious Sunchoke Chip Recipe

For this Epic Recipe, we’re discussing how to make a delicious sunchoke recipe! If you’ve ever grown sunchokes, also known as the Jerusalem artichoke plant, you know how dense they can get. Harvesting them regularly and moving the tubers to another area or using them in food is a necessity. Otherwise, they’ll take over your garden!

The absolute best time to harvest your sunchokes is in late fall and early winter, when the tops of the plants have died back. Using them at this time means you get to pop the plants out of the soil when they’re looking a little unsightly too! What’s great about Jacques’ recipe, in particular, is you’ll have chips packed with flavors carefully curated from plants you most likely have in your garden right now.

What results is a chip that’s super tasty, with flavors like garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest. It’s also healthier than your average potato chip, with a much lower glycemic index — almost half the sugar content! You’re also going to get higher vitamin B content, and you’ll have the added satisfaction of working with completely fresh ingredients.

Jacques’ Sunchoke Chip Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 to 20 sunchoke bulbs, washed and drained
• 1 bowl of cold water for soaking the sunchoke slices
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• At least 1 cup of high temp cooking oil, depending on how many sunchokes you have; fry in batches as needed
• Lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 small sprig of rosemary
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Directions

1. Take your clean sunchokes, and slice them with a mandolin or sharp kitchen knife to roughly a few millimeters thick. Then dunk them into cold water to remove some of the excess starch.
2. Meanwhile, place the cooking oil in a saucepan and heat it on medium heat until the temperature of the oil is 375°F.
3. Pat the sunchokes dry and drain them on paper towels or thin cloth kitchen towels in a single layer.
4. Crush your 2 garlic cloves, and add them to the oil for seasoning. Zest your lemon into a bowl or mortar and pestle. When they are golden brown, remove them and set them among the lemon zest to mix with your other seasonings later.
5. Add your sunchoke slices to the cooking oil in an amount that ensures they are covered by the oil. Cook your slices in batches if necessary. As the slices are cooking, remove the rosemary leaves from the sprig, and chop them together with the fried garlic.
6. When the chips are slightly golden, remove them and drain them on fresh paper towels or racks. Allow them to sit for a little while before seasoning so they become crunchier.
7. Add Kosher salt to the lemon zest and mull or mix them vigorously to wake up the flavor of the zest. Then add the rosemary garlic mixture, and stir them together just enough to combine.
8. Throw all the spices in with the chips and gently toss to combine. Sample a chip, and add more salt as needed to achieve peak flavor, a la Jacques!
9. Enjoy!

Jacques, the Garden Hermit