People all over the world love fried food and consider it an important part of their culture. Canada is no exception. Canadian cuisine features many iconic fried foods, from poutine to beaver tail. There are many ways to fry these Canadian delicacies, but pressure fryers are often the best option for your restaurant.
The additional pressure in a pressure fryer fries the food more quickly than traditional open fryers. Since the frying process is quicker, the food absorbs less oil, which is one hack for making fried food healthier. However, even if the fried food isn’t necessarily good for them, customers are going to order it.
While you can cook almost anything, we have some suggestions below for six of the best foods to cook in pressure fryers—all of them inspired by popular Canadian cuisine.
Meats: Chicken and Seafood
You can find chicken and seafood almost anywhere, so how can Canada inspire frying these items? The first inspiration comes from McDonald’s international menu, which features Canada’s Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich. McDonald’s put this on their Canadian and worldwide menu because chicken burgers are a common menu feature on other Canadian menus. So fry up some chicken to join in on this menu favorite in Canada and abroad!
Canada is also one of the biggest fish producers in the world, since they have both the Atlantic and Pacific coast. The ready availability of fish and the influence of the British empire has created a popular demand for fish and chips. You can cook the fish of your choice in a pressure fryer and serve it with fries or another side item to offer this popular British-Canadian dish.
Sides: Potatoes and Vegetables
With poutine and fish and chips so popular in Canada, it’s no surprise they love to fry potatoes. While thicker slices or wedges of potatoes do best in a pressure fryer, you can fry thinner slices as well.
Potatoes are considered root vegetables, and you can fry other types of vegetables as well. Onions are one of the most popular fried vegetables in Canada and around the world. They make a delicious, crispy side for dishes or can stand alone as an appetizer.
Desserts: Timbits and Beaver Tail
No meal is complete without dessert, and Canada has some delicious fried desserts to inspire your menu. Timbits may sound like a strange dessert, but they’re really just the Canadian version of donut holes. They’re small, circular bits of fried dough, and you can customize the flavor to whatever your customers prefer.
Beaver tail is a little more Canada-specific and something many Canadian tourists have probably tried. This deep-fried dough dessert is shaped like a beaver tail and often coated in cinnamon sugar or covered in chocolate and banana slices.
Some of the best fried foods to cook in a pressure fryer come from Canada. Whether you want to recreate a McDonald’s favorite or introduce your customers to beaver tail, you can use these ideas to enhance your restaurant’s menu.