The first time I ate funchi fries, or polenta fries, I made them myself. It was during a workshop by Helmi Smeulders in Curaçao. And I was hooked. So when I recently had a cooking session to make some Curaçao recipes, these polenta fries were a no brainer to add to the list of recipes to make.

Funchi Fries

Funchi actually just means polenta. And funchi fries is the name for polenta fries. Funchi is very common in the Antillean cuisine and if you are in Curaçao you are likely to see it on a menu. Don’t be mistaken into thinking that funchi is always fried because it generally is not. It’s just a flat disk of cooked polenta. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of polenta, but in the form of these irresistible polenta fries, it’s a whole different story!

Making the Polenta Fries

To make polenta fries, you need corn flour. You can use either white corn flour or yellow corn flour, but it’s important not to use the pre-cooked polenta or instant polenta. So uncooked corn flour is what you need. You can usually find this in the grocery store.

Then you have to boil it in a pan with water. This is actually the most time-consuming part of the process, because you have to keep stirring for a while. This is to prevent the polenta from sticking together. Make sure it keeps cooking, but don’t let it boil to hard. It can also sputter a lot. If you keep stirring you will prevent this from happening in the first place.

It will thicken fairly quickly, and after about 15 minutes or so, it should pull away from the sides of the pan. That didn’t happen to me, so it’s not a hard and fast rule. It probably also depends on the type of pan you use. Anyway, after about 15 minutes of gentle cooking, you can assume the polenta is cooked.

Add the extras

At this point, add the butter, chopped rosemary and grated cheese to the polenta and stir well until the butter is melted and the cheese is well incorporated.

Pour the polenta onto a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) and smooth the top. Try and get an even layer. Ideally, it should be about an inch thick. Let it cool and set. You can put it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, or just let it cool on the counter. Depending on how much time you have.

Double bake

Once it has set properly, turn the baking dish over a cutting board and cut it into fries about an inch wide. You can make thinner fries as well but be careful not to make them too thin or they will break easily. How long you make them is up to you, but it’s easier not to make them too long. This makes it easier to dust them with flour.

Crispy layer

To make them nice and crispy, you will need flour or an alternative to it. If you want to keep the Funchi Fries gluten-free, you can dust them with rice flour or even ground cornmeal. I used “regular” all purpose flour here, but an alternative will work just as well.

Now you can bake them just once and dive in, but if you want really crunchy polenta fries it is absolutely best to fry them twice. It’s more or less the same process when you’re making potato fries. You can deep-fry them or use a shallow frying pan. I’m guessing you can also make air fryer polenta fries but I still need to test that!

After the first fry, let them drain well on paper towels in a single layer and let them cool. Then fry them a second time until they are golden brown. When ready, sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese and/or a pinch of salt and a little extra fresh herbs if you like, and serve with a spicy dipping sauce. Check the recipe card for full instructions on the recipe.

Funchi fries or polenta fries are a fun side dish and can easily be adapted to have different flavors if you like. I love adding some garlic powder to the mix or some italian herbs. You can also easily transform this into a vegan version by not using the butter but a vegan variation on that and by using vegan parmesan cheese.

Not my cup of tea but if you wanted it to you could make it vegan that way.