Spicy Samurai Fries

Spicy Samurai Fries are crispy thin cut fries, topped with samurai sauce, spring onions and crunchy fried shallots. They are a hugely popular street food in Belgium. 

Samurai sauce is a spicy, creamy mixture of mayonnaise and sambal oelek and, often, ketchup. Known for its spiciness and rich flavor, it is a staple in Belgian friteries aka fry shops.

According to Google, “Samurai sauce is called that because its intense spiciness is meant to "sting" like a samurai's sword. Popularized in Belgium in the early 2000s, the name reflects a "warrior-like" heat rather than a Japanese origin.”

Do you have to use Kewpie mayonnaise? I don’t know, but a lot of the recipes I found online and by consulting the Reddit brain trust did mention it by name. Since sambal oelek isn’t Japanese, perhaps Kewpie is a cultural nod after the fact, to samurai warriors being Japanese. 

If you want the authentic Kewpie, buy the one in the bottle in the plastic bag. It’s actually labeled Made in Japan. The one without the bag is a different and, in my opinion, an inferior recipe, made elsewhere. 

Spicy Samurai Fries

You can adjust the spiciness of the samurai sauce by adding more mayo and/or using less sambal. Some recipes also called for ketchup so if you reduce the sambal and want more color, that’s a legitimate addition. I also added ground cayenne because despite chili peppers being the first two ingredients, my sambal wasn’t very spicy. 

Ingredients

½ cup or 110g Kewpie mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sambal oelek

¼ teaspoon cayenne - optional

2 spring onions, green part only

2 tablespoons fried shallots – mine were store-bought

1 lb or 450g frozen shoestring fries

Method

In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and the sambal together until well combined.

 

Add in the cayenne if using and stir well. 

Cover with cling film and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Slice the green part of the spring onions thinly, on the diagonal. 

Cook your fries according to package instructions. 

Once the fries are nice and crispy, tip them onto a plate with paper towel to blot any oil that might have cooked off of them. 

Put them on a serving dish and drizzle some of the samurai sauce over the fries. I prefer not to put too much so that the fries stay as crispy as possible. 

Sprinkle on the spring onion slices and the crispy fried shallots.

Serve immediately with the rest of the samurai sauce alongside for dipping. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for or with fries or their British counterpart, chips. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri of Mayuri’s Jikoni. Check out the links below.

• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Loaded French Fries from Making Miracles
• Corned Beef Poutine from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Keto Rutabaga French Fries from Sneha's Recipe
• Leftover French Fry Hash from A Messy Kitchen
• Masala Chip Butty from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Lomo Saltado from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Samurai Fries from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Lamb Feta Mint Patties

These lamb feta mint patties are fabulous on their own, in a toasted bun or stacked with grilled eggplant, lettuce and tomato for a sandwich with a twist. 

Half of the year we live in the Channel Islands where ground lamb is readily available. It’s still not cheap but then again neither is beef so sometimes we like a change. Depending on your source, lamb is usually very flavorful and juicy with a higher fat content than beef. 

Although I do make a shepherd’s pie on occasion, I tend to make patties out of lamb mince, as it’s called in the UK, because then you do really get to taste the lamb. In a shepherd’s pie, there’s so much else going on as well. In this case, the addition of feta adds moisture and salt but the lamb still shines through. 

Lamb Feta Mint Patties

This recipe is adapted from one on the delicious. magazine Australia website. They made meatballs to add to a tomato salad but I couldn't stop thinking about patties. It was a good decision!

Ingredients

2 lbs or 900g minced lamb

7oz or 200g Greek feta, crumbled

1/2 cup or 35g fresh breadcrumbs

several sprigs fresh mint

2 garlic cloves, crushed then minced

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

Freshly ground black pepper

Drizzle olive oil for frying in a non-stick pan

Method

Pick the leaves off of the mint stems and mince them. Discard the stems.

Combine the lamb, feta, bread crumbs, mint leaves, garlic, salt and allspice with a few generous grinds of black pepper in a bowl. 

Divide into 6 portions and form patties. Place on a tray, cover and chill for 20-30 minutes to firm up. (Looks like five but there are indeed six! The front one is a double.)

Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the patties and fry, turning often, for 7-8 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

As you can see, I served these with some pan-fried slices of eggplant, sliced tomato and lettuce in a stack but you could easily tuck a patty in pita bread or a bun. Condiment of your choice but I can highly recommend a little mayo with chives. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 6th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter F. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the F recipes below.

• Brazilian Feijoada - Black Bean Stew with Beef and Pork from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Flourless Chocochip Brownies from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Fansi Dapka Nu Shaak from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Feta Potato Swirls from Magical Ingredients
• Fingerlicking Garlic Coconut Chutney from Sneha’s Recipe
• Fortune Cookie Crust from A Messy Kitchen
• Funfetti Pancakes from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Gruyere and Apple Cider Fondue from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lamb Feta Mint Patties from Food Lust People Love
• Lemony Potato & Fennel Rotisserie Chicken Soup from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• One Pan Chicken Fajita Pasta from Blogghetti

 

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties - this post!

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.

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Maple Thyme Hasselback Yams

Slightly sweet yet delightfully savory, these tender maple thyme hasselback yams are a wonderful (and pretty!) side dish for your holiday table.

Everybody makes a big deal of Girl Scout cookie season, and rightfully so, of course. They are delicious and iconic, especially the Thin Mints. But I daresay fewer people are aware of a Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts) fundraiser that takes place in many councils across the United States. 

I discovered the program a couple of years ago at a neighborhood holiday event where among the vendor booths there was a troop of scouts selling their branded Scout’s Own maple syrup. Apparently, if they live close to maple syrup country, scouts can attend “Sap Camp” to learn about and help with the production of the syrup.

Since I cannot say no to a young person selling something delicious, you know I had to buy a bottle. Scout’s Own maple syrup is lovely, dark, rich and just the perfect amount of sweet. I used it to make these maple thyme hasselback yams. 

Maple Thyme Hasselback Yams

Growing up in the southern United States, we called these orange flesh tubers yams or occasionally, sweet potatoes. You can substitute your favorite sweet potato here. 

Ingredients

3 yams

2 tablespoons olive oil

Fine sea salt

¼ cup or 56g butter

¼ cup or 60ml maple syrup

2 sprigs fresh thyme plus extra for garnish

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Scrub the yams and trim the hard ends and discard. Place a yam in a deep serving spoon and use a sharp knife to cut thin slices in it, just down to the spoon edges. Repeat with the other two yams.

Place the yams in a tight-fitting baking pan and drizzle them with the olive oil, opening the slices to get a little oil inside the yams. Sprinkle with fine sea salt, trying to get some inside the yams as well. 

Bake the yams for 30 minutes in your preheated oven. 

Melt the butter and mix it with the maple syrup, ¼ teaspoon salt and the leaves from the fresh thyme sprigs. 

Spoon the maple butter thyme mixture over the yams, making sure to get it in between the slices, inside the yams. 

Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the yams are tender and cooked through. Turn off the oven when you take the yams out.

Drain the syrupy butter into a small pot and put the yams back into the turned off oven to stay warm. 

Bring the syrup to a boil over a medium high heat. 

Cook for about five minutes until reduced and thickened. 

Leave to cool for just a couple of minutes then spoon over the yams and garnish with tender sprigs of thyme. Serve immediately. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with maple syrup ahead of Maple Syrup Saturday on March 21st. Many thanks to our host, Camilla from Culinary Cam. Check out the links below!

• French Toast by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Karawya with a Maple Syrup Drizzle by Culinary Cam
• Keto Baked Chicken Legs in Buffalo Sauce by Sneha's Recipe
• Maple Bacon Candied Walnuts by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Maple Bourbon Smash by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Maple Dijon Bacon Green Beans by Making Miracles
• Maple Mousse by A Messy Kitchen
• Maple Pecan Glaze for Scones by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Maple Thyme Hasselback Yams by Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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