People who know me well would know that my all time favorite ingredient is the potato. From fries to mash. There is something about the starch-heavy and carbohydrates-packed vegetable that almost make me seem like I was born in the west instead of South-East Asia.

I have been researching on replicating the store-bought hash-browns patties at home for a long time, and have yet to succeed, concluding that it is only possibly made through manufacturing machines. My only consolation and actually quite honestly, a proud work towards that setback, is succeeding at making the perfect rosti.

The Rösti, is a signature Swiss dish, consisting of mainly potatoes. Call it a potato pancake if you wish. It’s the closest to a hash-brown patty that I can master. Many Singaporeans are probably not new to the dish, as it has been served at the popular restaurant ‘Marche’ for as long as I can remember.

Prior to my final method, I have tried a few ways of preparing the Rosti. Frying the grated potatoes raw, frying a finely grated potato raw, using high heat, using low heat…you get the picture. The final trial that resulted in a crisp yet tender breakfast/sidedish was using pre-cooked and dried poatoes which are coarsely grated.

You first boil a couple of large, peeled potatoes in lightly salted water for 10-15 minutes, which is when you could pierce a fork through easily, but encounter resistance as you hit the center of the potato.

Drain the potatoes and let them cool preferably overnight, or at least a few hours. A few hours worked here at Winter, but if you’re at a more tropical climate, I assume you will need a longer wait time for the potatoes to completely cool off. During this time, it will also continue cooking as you let it rest, from the existing heat inside the potatoes, so you don’t have to worry about the center being too raw. The reason for leaving it overnight is also to let most of the moisture on/in the potato dry off.

When that is done, using a coarse grater, grate the potatoes into a bowl/plate, being careful not to grate your fingers.

Heat up a non-stick pan on medium heat with about a tablespoon of oil/butter, and scatter the potatoe gratings evenly on the pan once it starts to smoke a little.

Switch to  low heat. Let the rosti fry very slowly. If you use high heat, you will burn the rosti. Only by using low heat will you get a crisp golden color. The tricky thing about cooking the rosti is that you can never tell for sure if it’s ready for flipping. I would guess about 10-15 minutes on low heat, season the un-fried side of the rosti with salt and pepper, and it is ready to be flipped.

I like to do a pan flip because I’m a smarty-pans Gordon Ramsay wannabe, and often it resulted in a broken rosti, which I have to re-arrange together again. The safest way to flip the rosti would be to place a large circular plate face down on the rosti in the pan, turn the pan over so the rosti ends up on the plate, crisp side down, place another large plate on the plate face side down, and turn it over. You will have the rosti, un-fried side up on the plate. You then carefully position the pan on top of the plate and turn both around, and then remove the plate from the pan. Too troublesome for me.

Add a little more oil from the side of the rosti, and let it slowly fry for another 10-15 minutes, and it should be ready to serve.

I served this portion of Rosti with a side of buttered Spinach. Otherwise, I’d usually have it with a sauce or as a side with a Steak.

Bon Apetit~