Halloumi Fries with Hot Honey

Ingredients

• 2 blocks of halloumi, cut into thick chips
• 50 g cornflour
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• a squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Dry the halloumi

   Cut into chips and pat every face dry with kitchen paper. Halloumi is stored in brine, and wet cheese hitting hot oil spits violently and never crisps.

2. Dust in cornflour

   Toss in the cornflour mixed with paprika until evenly coated, shaking off the excess. Cornflour rather than plain flour — it fries lighter and crisper and does not go pasty against the wet cheese.

3. Fry hot and fast

   Heat 3 cm of oil to 180°C and fry in batches for about 2 minutes, until golden. Any longer and the inside melts and collapses out of its coating.

   4 min

4. Make the hot honey

   Warm the honey with the chilli flakes and a pinch of salt for a minute so the chilli infuses. It thins as it warms and thickens again on the plate.

   1 min

5. Serve immediately

   Drain briefly, pile up, and pour the hot honey over with a squeeze of lemon. Halloumi has a window of about three minutes before it goes squeaky and tight.