I’m a true believer that almost anything tastes better when you fry it. Notice I didn’t say it’s better for you. It’s just better.
In Costa Rica, these fried goodies taste a hundred times better than at home. The fish, the French fries, battered chicken, empanadas–you get the idea. And the smell is unbelievable. I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse. All I know is it’s damned good, and I couldn’t figure out exactly why.
Why does Costa Rican fried food taste so good? I have a theory.
It Has to Be the Oil
Back in the 80s when I first started traveling to Costa Rica, the modus operandi of frying food was always with “manteca”, or vegetable lard. Clover brand sold this manteca in huge rounded sticks that looked like big tubes of shortening and everybody used it. Bottled oil was available, but not readily.
Now, bottled oil is everywhere.
So, when I decided to find out why these foods taste so good, I made an interesting discovery. Almost all the oil in Costa Rica used for frying is soybean oil. You can find it everywhere. They also have olive and corn oils, but soybean oil is the big seller. That has to be it, I told myself.
Soybean Oil at Home
Soybean oil here in the States is also known as “vegetable oil”. Why it can’t be labeled simply as “soybean oil” is beyond me. According to my research, all vegetable oil isn’t soybean oil, although most are. Sometimes it’s a blend of soybean and another oil such as canola or safflower.
While searching, I finally found an oil labeled “soybean oil” from a brand called Nutrioli. I decided to give a try and ordered a bottle.
In a few days, I had my soybean oil and I was ready to try it. I prepared some fish with batter by Los Patitos (another crazy awesome Costa Rican find) and heated up my soybean oil. This was just too good to be true, how exciting!
And of course, it was.
My fish, although tasty, still didn’t have that flavor you get in Costa Rica.
Upon trying regular, ordinary “vegetable oil” (otherwise known as secret soybean oil) the taste was much more similar to Costa Rican fried foods, but not exactly. I guess I’ll just have to accept that the good stuff is in Costa Rica.
Back to Boring Oils In NY
These days, I’m using olive oil as a rule, though I’ve migrated over to avocado oil, as well. Neither knocks my socks off, but hey– I’m trying to do the healthy thing.
But when I’m in Costa Rica–you can bet I’ll be enjoying those delicious French fries, fried fish, and tortillas. YUM!