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Written by bitterballenbruid
Expat Hayley soon learned how much the healthy Dutch love their fried foods, and explores the many delicious snacks that the Dutch have made their own.
Considering that the Dutch are on the whole a rather healthy bunch, it’s really quite surprising that they love deep-fried food. You name it – they’ll deep fry it. And while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – hey, I’m the world’s biggest bitterbal fan – it’s just surprising that they are so fond of unhealthy snacks. But hey, who am I to judge? Let’s check out the best Dutch deep friend snacks.
Top Dutch deep friend snacks
Bitterballen
the best borrelhapje (bar snack) imaginable. I won’t waffle on about how much I love them because I’ve done it here already.
Krokets
similar to bitterballen but cylindrical in shape. They come in a variety of fillings: beef, pork, vegetables, potatoes, shrimp and more. Make sure you know what you’re getting as they all look the same! They are sold almost anywhere: supermarkets, restaurants, snack bars and even in McDonald’s.
Frikandel
a long, thin, skinless, dark-coloured meat sausage, usually eaten warm. Personally, I hate them but each to their own! They are often served with curry ketchup or mayonnaise, though some eat it with tomato ketchup, mustard or even apple sauce(!)
FEBO
Wondering where you can buy all these wonderful deep fried products? Look no further than FEBO! A wall of fast-food snacks at your finger tips. As well as krokets and frikandel, they also sell burgers – just put your money in the slot and pull your chosen snack out of the wall – it’s so handy to grab a snack, day or night. Tourists will stand in amazement at this wall of snacks and I can’t blame them. It’s a cool idea, I wonder why we don’t have them in the UK?!
Loempia
the Dutch version of fried spring rolls. This Southeast Asian dish is commonly referred to as lumpia but in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, it is spelled loempia – the old Indonesian spelling. As in the UK, these are available from Asian restaurants and takeaways.
Patat
VINCENT: You know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup?VINCENT: Mayonnaise.
JULES: Goddamn!
VINCENT: I seen ‘em do it man.
It’s 100 percent true. They drown them in it.
If you’re not a mayonnaise kinda person, alternatives include:
- Friet met satésaus – chips with peanut sauce (friet is another word commonly used for fries or chips).
- Patatje oorlog – chips with a combination of peanut saté sauce, mayo and onions.
- Patat speciaal – comprises of curry ketchup, mayonnaise and onion on your chips.
This leads nicely onto kapsalon: chips with kebab or shawarma (more on that next) and cheese – normally Gouda. It is often served with a dressed salad, garlic sauce and a hot sauce or sambal (see below). In my opinion, it’s the yummiest kebab possible.
Kapsalon
Shawarma
known as Shoarma in the Netherlands. This isn’t deep-fried but you’ll probably have some patatjes on the side, so it belongs in this list. Although it is often compared to gyros/doner kebabs because it is cooked on a vertical spit, shawarma is chunks of meat rather than slices giving it a different texture.
Shoarma
Sambal
a spicy Southeast Asian condiment made from chillies, with secondary ingredients including shrimp paste, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, shallots, sugar and vinegar. This is the perfect accompaniment to kapsalon or shoarma. You can buy it from supermarkets but it’s waaaay better to make your own. My Dutch man makes huge batches of it and then distributes jars to our very grateful friends and family. He even has his own special labels. Maybe one day I’ll share the recipe if he lets me.
Homemade sambal
Oliebollen
literally, oil balls. Any list wouldn’t be complete without oliebollen. I say they’re doughnuts but my Dutchie doesn’t agree. The dough is made from flour, eggs, yeast, salt, milk, baking powder and usually sultanas or raisins. Then they’re then sprinkled with icing sugar. They are traditionally eaten at New Year but there are oliebollen stands around for the whole festive period.
Photo credits: Takeaway (McDonald’s krokets, patat, oliebollen) Siebrand (Frikandel), Kguirnela (Loempia).
