Hash brown potatoes are comfort food. With that in mind, I recently tried to make my first batch and have no clue where I went wrong. When served, they tasted fine, but kinda clumped together, melded and looked like hell.
Here’s what I did. Using a food processor, I shredded several peeled 4-5 red potatoes and a yellow onion. Meanwhile, I had a skillet warming up with 2-3 T of canola oil and 1-2 T of butter. I dumped the shredded potatos/onion into the skillet, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cooked till brown.
Result: soft, almost gooey hash browns. When I processed the potatoes, they were kinda wet. Should I have patted them dry before tossing in the skittet–or should I have used russet (brown) potatoes?
Try shredding the potatoes into salt water, and then drain them before cooking. This washes the starch off so they don’t turn gooey. I use regular Idaho (russet) potatoes, but I would think red potatoes would work as well. I’ve also seen recipes that tell you to blanch the potatoes, but that’s a little more work than I’m willing to do before breakfast.
Hi, my name is Carnivorousplant and I eat food that comes in a box.
With that confession that I use Reiser’s shredded potatoes, I have crummy results with my beloved olive oil, and great results with cheap vegetable oil and the heat turned so high that Mrs. Plant complains about the bottom of her (our?) pots.
Fry them hot as can be, and in cheap oil. Plant has got it right. It always works for me that way. I usually shred the potatoes with a coarse cheese grater, then add chopped onion, spices, and dump the whole mess into a cast iron chicken fryer with canola oil. Put on the lid, crank up the heat, and don’t mess with it until you flip the whole mess to brown the other side. Of course, I like my hash browns kinda crispy. YMMV.
Red potatoes naturally have a very high starch content, and will seem almost gooey/creamy in nearly any preparation.
I have always used plain old russets for hashbrowns, and had great success. If your food processor has different grating blades, go for the one that makes the larger shreds, since the potatoes will shrink down as the water is cooked off. Rinsing isn’t necessary, usually, but if you do, make sure they’re well drained before tossing them in the oil. Aside from the oil spatter problem, if they’re too wet, they’ll burn on the outside before they’re done on the inside. Try to use the potatoes almost as soon as you grate them, because the longer that starch is exposed to air, the more the sugars break down, and not only will they turn funny colors, they’ll goo up before you even start cooking them.
You might also want to try just using thin slices of onion, instead of grating, since you seem to like the loose 'browns rather than the patties I prefer. Grating the onion in with the potatoes releases a lot of water, which might have lent to the glopping you had.
My favorite recipe is simply 3 or 4 medium russet potatoes, one medium onion, all shredded up. You really only need about 2 tablespoons of oil, and I would leave the butter out for these. Fry at med-high heat. Yummy. Dang, now I want some.
Bake russets in foil for half an hour, let cool, and peel (you can cook them the night before and let them cool overnight). Cut into cubes rather than shreds. Cook with a little onion til brown.
As silenus said, the key is not to give in to the temptation to stir them in any fashion. Let the spuds brown completely on one side, then flip the whole thing to the other side. Plop a fried egg on top and you’ve got heaven.
If you’re using spuds with a high moisture content, you might want to leave out the onions. Onions can turn the whole thing soggy. I like to chop up some scallions and throw them on top near the end of the cooking. Another idea is to grate parmesan cheese over the top right at the end.
I would never use potatoes cooked the day before. Cooked potatoes get mealy when stored. Even when making home fries, if the spuds are cut small enough they will cook rapidly; no need to pre-cook.
I have to disagree with most everyone here - I think your problem is, as you surmised, wet potatoes. After shredding them, spread them out on paper towels and blot them as dry as you can - this will take more paper towels than you can believe. Sprinkling them with a little salt will help get some of the moisture out, but you’ll still have to blot them dry and you may prefer NOT to use extra salt (I don’t like too much salt, so I don’t use it.)
Having your oil very hot will help, too. Peanut oil is good because it can get to a very high temp before it starts smoking. I prefer a buttery taste, so after coating the pan with peanut oil and getting it good and hot, I usually throw a chunk of butter into the pan and then quickly throw the potatoes and onions in before the butter starts to brown.
I’m still not entirely certain if there is a difference between green onions and scallions (and I sometimes confuse scallions with shallots) but regular onions are yellow or white or purple. Spanish onions are the purple ones, the white ones are just “white onions” and the yellow ones can be of several types - Vidalias, hamburger and Washington Sweets are yellow and sweet, where the regular small yellow onions you buy in mesh bags sometimes are not necessarily sweet. Green onions, and possibly scallions, are the small white bulbs with long thin green tops - and when the green tops are thin sliced and used as a garnish in sour cream or cream cheese, they are sometimes confused with chives, which is an onion-y tasting herb.