Tornado PotatoHoeri Gamja

The spiral cut is the whole game. My first attempt at tornado potato ended with a potato that looked more like a badly peeled apple than an accordion. I was cooking at home in Singapore, and had just watched a street food vendor near Dongdaemun do it in about twelve seconds flat — a confident, single-motion cut while rotating the potato slowly on the skewer.

My version took four attempts and produced increasingly ragged spirals. The issue was knife angle. The recipe tip says about 30 degrees, and that's exactly right, but you have to commit to that angle for the full rotation without second-guessing. I kept adjusting mid-cut and creating a zig-zag instead of a helix.

Potato number four finally worked. I held the knife still, rotated the potato toward me at a steady pace, and the spiral emerged as a single connected piece that stretched out beautifully along the skewer.

The frying part is simpler. Firm potatoes — waxy varieties, not floury baking types — hold their shape during frying. The oil needs to be at 350F, and you turn the skewer occasionally so the spiral fries evenly. Salt goes on immediately when it comes out of the oil, while the surface is still hot.

I brought these to a rooftop gathering at a friend's apartment. A Greek a friend named Alexios watched me cut the spiral and immediately asked to try it himself. He got it right on the second attempt, which was faster than me. We ended up running a small assembly line: he cut the spirals, I fried them, we both salted.

Tornado potato is street food that looks impressive but has a short ingredient list — just potato, oil, and seasoning. The cutting skill is the only real investment. Once you have it, you can make these anywhere.