These aren’t your average hash browns. Crispy on the outside, cheesy in the middle, and loaded with chorizo.

I bake the potatoes for this recipe rather than boiling them, and that decision shapes the whole dish. Boiling saturates the potato with water, which you then have to squeeze out before getting any crispness at all. Baking does the opposite. It draws moisture out and leaves you with a drier, denser flesh that grates cleanly and binds well. Once grated and mixed with cornflour, melted butter, garlic powder and chorizo, the mixture comes together like a rough dough. A slice of mozzarella goes into the centre of each one before forming, which melts during frying into that stretchy, molten core.

Note: allow extra time for the potatoes to cool before peeling the skin, and then again before grating. Then allow for freezing time before deep frying the hash browns. 

The frying is done in two stages. The first fry at 140°C is a gentle cook-through, not about colour or crust. At that temperature the oil sets the structure and cooks the potato all the way in without aggressively browning the outside. After that they go back onto the tray to chill and firm up again before the second fry at 180°C, which is where the deep golden crust develops. Before any of that happens, the shaped patties go into the freezer for 30 minutes. That brief freeze firms up the exterior and gives each patty the structural rigidity to survive the first fry without falling apart.

Ingredient Notes

Potatoes: You want a high-starch, floury variety here. Sebago and Russet are my go-to choices in Australia, but King Edward, Maris Piper and Idaho all work well. High-starch potatoes have a lower water content and bind together well once grated, without needing a lot of extra help. Low-starch waxy varieties like Desiree, Dutch Cream or Kipfler hold too much water and won’t give you the same crisp, well-bound result.

Cornflour: Cornflour does two things here. It absorbs residual moisture from the grated potato and acts as a binder that helps the mixture hold its shape during frying. I prefer it over plain flour because cornflour contains no gluten, which means the texture stays lighter and crispier. Plain flour introduces gluten development, which can make the hash brown slightly chewy. It also keeps the recipe gluten free as written.

Chorizo: Use a Spanish-style cured chorizo here, not a fresh or raw sausage. Cured chorizo is already cooked and just needs to render its fat during frying, which distributes that smoky paprika and pork flavour through the hash brown. A raw sausage won’t cook properly in the time available and the texture won’t work. If you can’t find chorizo, diced ham or a smoked Kransky is a solid substitute. Avoid anything with a high water content, as it will prevent crisping.

Equipment

• Chopping board
• Chef’s knife
• Fork
• Oven tray
• Baking paper
• Large bowl
• Box grater
• Deep frying pan or heavy-based saucepan
• Kitchen thermometer
• Tongs
• Wire rack