If one takes a piece of bread and fries it in oil, what Beracha is recited over that piece of bread? Does it retain its status of "Ha’mosi," or does it lose this status and require "Mezonot"? And is there any distinction in this regard between ordinary frying – where the bread is placed in a pan on a bit of oil – and deep frying – where the bread is completely submerged in oil?
Deep frying, according to all Halachic authorities, indeed changes the status of bread to that of "Mezonot," on the condition that the piece of bread is less than the size of a "Ke’zayit." Thus, if French toast, for example, is prepared by completely submerging the bread in oil, and the piece of bread is smaller than a "Ke’zayit," then one recites over it the Beracha of "Mezonot." On the opposite extreme, if one does not actually fry the bread, but simply adds a bit of oil to the pan so that the bread would not stick to it, then according to all opinions, the piece of bread retains its status as bread and requires "Ha’mosi." Even if the piece is smaller than a "Ke’zayit," it nevertheless retains its status as bread, since it was not actually fried.
If, however, the bread was fried normally in a pan, and it is smaller than a "Ke’zayit," its status is subject to a debate among the Halachic authorities. The Magen Abraham (Rav Abraham Gombiner, Poland, 1637-1682) maintained that frying changes a piece of bread’s status just like boiling does, and thus a small piece of bread that was fried requires "Mezonot," and not "Ha’mosi." Most other Aharonim, however, disagree, and maintain that frying does not affect bread’s status. In light of this debate, the Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) ruled that one should not eat a fried piece of bread that is smaller than a "Ke’zayit" unless he first recites "Ha’mosi" over an ordinary piece of bread, in order to avoid this Halachic question.
Therefore, one who eats French toast must be aware of how it was prepared, whether it was deep fried or fried normally, and must also take note of the size of the piece, as these factors will determine whether it requires "Ha’mosi" or if it needs to be eaten together with ordinary bread.
(These Halachot are codified in Yalkut Yosef – Berachot, vol. 1, pp. 307-8; listen to audio recording for precise citation.)
Summary: A piece of bread that is a "Ke’zayit" or larger requires the Beracha of "Ha’mosi" even if it was fried. If it is smaller than a "Ke’zayit," and it was deep fried, then it requires "Mezonot." If it was fried normally, then its status vis-à-vis Berachot is uncertain, and therefore it should be eaten only after one recites "Ha’mosi" over an ordinary piece of bread.
