When it comes to certain dishes, nothing evokes satisfaction–be it at a comfy diner or in a fine steakhouse–like digging into a mounded round of perfectly balanced and seasoned hash browns. That first hefty forkful and bite of crispness, followed by a tender interior of potato, all combining in the mouth, makes the day go just a little bit easier–a hearty and fulfilling thing it is.
Every chef and cook on the internet have their own standard recipe and numerous websites trumpet the “true secret” to making great hash browns, like they’ve just found the Holy Grail. I’ve got a better method, discovered through years of trial-and-error in a search that captures what a true potato needs to be in a great hash brown.
In all my years cooking and writing about food, I’ve never seen anyone do what I do. Jacques Pepin, my spiritual kitchen mentor for decades, merely wrings out his shredded potatoes in his hands–”to remove ‘ze starch”–he says. Alton Brown, that food chemist, witty goofball and philosopher-extraordinaire of GoodEats, bunches them up in a tea towel to get rid of the starch.
The secret? You don’t just “wring out the potatoes.” Both Alton’s method and Pepin’s instruction on his Facebook vids tell you to do that very thing, leaving enough potato-glue to give you a sticky-tater-ball in the pan, on your plate, on your fork and in your mouth.
Try this method instead. It’s the first main key to “Dirty Jack’s Diner ‘Browns.”
Grate the potatoes as you normally would, then rinse and drain the potatoes–multiple times. I adapted my normal kitchen grater by taking a Phillips’ head screwdriver and boring out and rounding the individual holes, enlarging them so you get a much thicker potato strand, and it worked beautifully. From there, rinse twice/thrice/four times if necessary to remove every trace of starchy liquid.
Don’t stop there. The second (and most important key) is to boil the snot out of them! Just kidding: a quick par-boil is sufficient.
Once completely rinsed, place the shredded strands of potato in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Note: always boil potatoes from a cold-water start, never just plop them in boiling water-and make sure you season the water first–just enough to change the taste on your tongue. It jump-starts the flavor profile nicely. Add enough water to cover the potatoes by an inch and then bring them up to a near-boil.
By par boiling, you’re unlocking the starches, which now cling to the outside of each strand, thereby spurring caramelization once they hit the fatted or oiled pan and then you also have the inside already par-cooked, and you only need a few minutes to achieve the desired crunch, depending on your individual taste. I like mine barely crunchy, others like that ‘shoestring-tater-in-a-can’ toothiness.
After a minute-long cook, get them in a bowl of cold water immediately and change and rinse the water to stop the cooking. Don’t put them in an ice bath–the cubes will destroy your cooked strands. Cold water is fine. Drain through a colander and then get them on a tea towel (‘ol AB was right about that step), dabbing with another towel to remove all the water on the potatoes. From here, you could go right to a sizzling pan, or if you’re like me, make a batch and store it in the refrigerator for a few days. Now that your taters are cooked, you’ve removed the chance for oxidation and the taters turning black.
These will keep for up to 3-4 days like this and then it’s easy to just reach in the fridge and pull out a handful, big enough for a nice plate of hash browns (and scallions!–they’re gorgeous sprinkled on top, maybe add a dusting of Emeril’s Essence spice or Old Bay Seasoning) to go with your eggs or you can put them in an omelette with some ham and Gruyere and green pepper and onion and you’ve got a Denver Omelette 2.0 that’ll stuff you good. Heck, if you do two spuds, you’ve got enough for a brunch crowd. On an omelette, though, when topped with a heavy dose of hot sauce and a blob of Greek yogurt? Ohhhhh, mercy…it makes me want to hike up a mountain…or maybe grab a quick snooze on the couch, sports page in hand. Either is good.
Try this method. It’s simple and gives you consistent results every time for great-tasting hash browns. Better than any diner or steakhouse? Dirty Jack says: I’ll put money on it!
(Okay, Julia Chinier, my friend…you can quit begging for my recipe. Here it is. IYKYK!) -JD
Sources: Jacques Pepin & Alton Brown-Courtesy of Facebook, BBC, Splash of Taste