As I have mentioned in previous articles, I take a good deal of flak for endorsing strange food combinations. My latest culinary creation is a mixture of chocolate chips with the sweet chili sauce from Mongolian Grill. This combination forms something that tastes similar to what I imagine chocolate-ancho pudding would taste like, and it is worth every horrified look.

Although they are little more “mainstream,” salt and vinegar potato chips still fall in the “peculiar” category for many people. I present this recipe for those who embrace this peculiarity. While I love potatoes, I don’t usually like them in packaged chip form, but salt and vinegar chips are the exception—they are salty, tangy, and strangely addictive. As with the Sour Patch Kids experience, you eat these chips in order to embrace the initial wince as vinegar spreads through your mouth.

This recipe makes something altogether different from the standard potato chip. For one, these chips are baked instead of fried, so they can plausibly be considered a more healthful version of the classic. Even more importantly, the taste of these chips is varied; the flavors of the potato, salt, vinegar, and oil all shine through independently.

These chips are easy to make and great to share, and the high-pitched whine they emit in the oven (I am not joking) as they begin to bubble and crisp is amusing. If that isn’t satisfying, I don’t know what is.

Baked Salt and Vinegar Chips
(Adapted from The Talking Kitchen)

Instructions

4 medium gold potatoes or 2 idaho potatoes
2 cups white vinegar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Using a potato peeler, peel the potato into paper-thin slices.
2. Place potato slices into a bowl with the vinegar and let it sit for two hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
4. Drain the potato slices and toss them with the salt and the olive oil until they are evenly coated.
5. Spread as many slices as you can fit onto a wire rack above a foil-lined pan and let them bake for 10-12 minutes. Alternatively, you may use a baking sheet, in which case you should let them bake for 16 minutes total, flipping the chips once halfway through.
6. At this point, the chips should be crispy. For additional flavor, toss them with vinegar, salt, or any other spice of your choosing.