Halloumi fries with crispy cornflake coating

We are all familiar with the standard potato fries of course, but did you know you can also make the most delicious fries with halloumi? I like to give them an extra crunchy coating with crushed cornflakes. So good!

Halloumi fries

You’ve got to know that I am a huge fan of halloumi. It is the perfect cheese for baking or frying and that’s what I love to do. You have to do something with it anyway, as out of the box it is not so good. It’s made for baking and frying. I love using it in salads or as a side with grilled vegetables in summer. I even made my own halloumi at some point in time.

So fries it is

I can’t fully remember where I first heard about making halloumi fries, but it immediately stuck with me. I mean; hello, halloumi plus crispy bits? I was sold right away. So instead of going for the regular version (not sure what that would be actually) I wanted to see if it would work with a cornflake coating.

I never eat cornflakes so I had to buy a box to make this recipe. Have you ever noticed the size of a cornflake box? It is huge! So I have some leftovers. Maybe I’ll make something else at some point. I think it will be great for coating chicken as well. But I’m sure there will be other things to come up with. I’m not gonna eat it for breakfast. That is so not my thing.

But in these halloumi fries they are absolutely brilliant!

Preparation

To make the halloumi fries you need flour, egg and cornflakes. You can add some ground chili through the flour to give it a bit more spice but since you also serve them with a spicy mayonaise that is not an absolute necessity.

Rolling rolling rolling

To start you have to slice the halloumi and cut it in strips. Sometimes the cheese breaks while doing that. That’s ok. You can use those bits and pieces as well. The taste is still the same. I placed three separate plates on the counter and filled one with flour, one with the whisked egg and the last one with the cornflakes. I crushed those by hand. You want to have some crumbs left but not too big. Not too small either. Big pieces won’t stick to the halloumi.

First you roll the halloumi fries through the flour, then through the egg and lastly you lightly press them into the cornflakes. It won’t be perfect but that is ok. It is homemade after all.

I initially hesitated about the use of the flour, so I tried one without. But that produced a lot of oil spatter. Using the flour will soak up some of the liquid from the halloumi. So I would definitely use the flour. If you don’t want to use gluten you could probably substitute for rice flour. But having said that; regular cornflakes also have gluten. So if you have a gluten intolerance make 100% sure you use gluten free cornflakes!

Shallow fry

Once all halloumi fries are coated you shallow fry them in a large frying pan. Shallow frying basically means you don’t use a large amount of oil. You use a wide pan and pour in roughly 1-2 centimeters (1 inch or zo) of oil in the pan. The fries don’t have to be fully submerged. You turn them halfway through the frying process.

Make sure the oil is hot enough. You can measure that with a thermometer (180˚C or 350˚F) or you can plop a little piece of bread in. If it starts to bubble right away the oil is probably at the right temperature.

Don’t add too many fries all at once. And stay with it. They really don’t need very long. So test it with one piece of halloumi first. As soon as it is golden you turn it around with a pair of tongs and fry the other side. Let them drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Can you make them upfront?

Well I wouldn’t advise to do that. I haven’t tried reheating them but once they cool down the cheese becomes firm again and you lose that lovely soft and gooey inside. Plus you loose the crunch on the outside somewhat too. You can prepare the rolling and coating in advance. Just leave the frying part till the last minute.

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