Crispy Potato Rosti, Poached Egg and Caramelised Onions
My crispy potato rosti with sweet caramelised onions and a chive-rolled poached egg. It's crunchy on the outside, tender inside, perfect breakfast treat.
Ingredients
Directions
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CARAMELISED ONIONS
- Step 1: Peel and finely slice the onions.
- Step 2: Place a medium saucier or pot over high heat, add the butter, and melt. Transfer the sliced onions to the pot, season with ½ tsp salt and fit with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium and caramelise for 10-15 minutes, stirring often or until they become soft, golden and sweet. Remove the lid for the last few minutes of cooking to help evaporate the excess moisture. When the onions are ready, taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt if necessary.
- Step 3: Turn the hob off and set aside for later.
ROSTI
- Step 1: Peel and grate the potatoes. Squeeze out the excess moisture by hand. Place the grated potatoes into a large bowl. To the bowl, add potato starch, ½ tsp salt, and 2 tbsp melted ghee. Mix everything together well and set aside.
- Step 2: To a medium carbon steel or non-stick pan, add the remaining 2 tbsp of ghee and set over a medium/high temperature until melted. Add the grated potato mixture and press firmly into the edges of the pan. Allow the rosti to crisp on the base for two minutes, then turn the heat down to low for a further 10 minutes.
- Step 3: Once the rosti has a golden brown colour on the base and the potatoes become soft on the edges, shake the pan to unstick the rosti. Use a flat spatula to flip the rosti and cook on the other side for a further 5 minutes or until golden brown on both sides and cooked all the way through. Transfer the rosti to a tray lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess fat. Season lightly with salt and set aside.
POACHED EGGS & PLATING
- Step 1: Place a medium sized pot of water on high until it boils. In the meantime, finely slice the chives and set aside. Once the water is boiled, add ½ tsp salt and 2 tbsp white vinegar and turn the water down to a simmer.
- Step 2: Poach two eggs in simmering water for 2 - 3 minutes or until they are cooked to your liking. Remove the eggs and season with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Coat both eggs in the finely chopped chives.
- Step 3: To serve, divide the caramelised onions, poached eggs and rosti between both plates then serve.
Equipment
- Chopping board
- Chef’s knife
- Peeler
- Large bowl
- Medium saucier or pot with a lid
- Medium carbon steel or non-stick pan
- Medium pot
- Flat spatula, wooden spoon and slotted spoon
- Large flat plate
- Tray
- Paper towel
Chef’s Tips
Recipe notes
Squeeze out as much water as you can
Water is what stops a rosti going crispy. If your hands aren’t getting enough out, tip the grated potato into a clean tea towel, twist it up and wring it out over the sink. You’ll be surprised how much liquid comes out, so keep going until it barely drips.
Don’t rinse the grated potato
Once you’ve squeezed the potato, leave it alone. The starch still clinging to it, plus the potato starch you add, is what holds the rosti together. Rinse it and you wash that starch straight down the drain.
Use a plate to flip it
If flipping with a spatula makes you nervous, use a plate instead. Give the pan a shake to make sure the rosti is loose, turn the heat off, then put a large flat plate upside down over the pan. Hold it firmly and flip the whole thing in one go so the rosti lands on the plate, then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side.
Watch the heat under the onions
If the onions start catching on the bottom of the pot, your heat is probably too high. Turn it down and add a tablespoon or two of water to deglaze, scraping up the sticky bits as it bubbles away. If they start to smell burnt, move them to a clean pot and keep going.
Storage
Rosti is at its best straight out of the pan. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. To bring the crunch back, reheat it in a hot pan with a little ghee or in a 200°C (390°F) oven for 8 to 10 minutes. The caramelised onions keep in the fridge for up to 5 days and freeze well for up to 3 months. Poached eggs are best cooked fresh.
Ingredient notes
Potatoes
You want to use a high-starch, floury potato. I use Sebagos because they’re easy to find in Australia and they fry up crisp with a fluffy centre. If you can’t get them, Maris Piper, King Edward, Russet or Agria all work.
Potato starch
This is the glue. Between the natural starch left on the grated potato and the 1½ tablespoons I add, the rosti holds together when you flip it instead of falling apart.
Ghee
Ghee is butter with the water and milk solids cooked out, so you get that rich, nutty butter flavour without the burning. You should be able yo buy it from your local supermarket.
FAQs
Can I use fried or scrambled eggs instead of poached?
Is this recipe gluten free and vegetarian?
Can I make the caramelised onions ahead of time?
About this recipe
A good rosti comes down to two things: getting the water out of the potato and keeping the starch in. How to achieve this? We'll grate floury potatoes, squeeze out the water, then bind them with a little potato starch and melted ghee before pressing into a hot pan. The starch gelatinises as it cooks and holds the shreds together, while the ghee fries the base into a thick, golden crust. The middle steams in its own heat and turns soft, so you get crunch on the outside and tender potato inside.
I like to serve a potato rosti with a pile of sweet, buttery caramelised onions and a poached egg rolled in chives.
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