Dylan McGrath's spicy rosti

Ingredients

This is really just a spicy hash brown, fried in a couple of spoonfuls of duck fat along with some butter. The key is to squeeze the starch from the potatoes, so you end up with a super-crispy result, and to
make sure the oil is hot enough, so it isn't absorbed. Perfect with pear and shallot chutney (page 240) and some fried eggs.

Serves 2–4

• 2 large Rooster potatoes (about 500g)
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 tsp onion powder 60g duck fat
• 60g butter
• 20g potato flour
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying salt and freshly ground white
• pepper

Method

1. Prepare the potatoes · Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas Mark 7). Peel the potatoes, then coarsely grate using the largest side of a box grater. Do not store the grated potato in water or wash it – the sticky starch is vital to this recipe. Instead, put the potato into a clean tea towel, fold the towel around it to form a ball, and squeeze as hard as you can to remove as much moisture as possible. Put the potato into a bowl and mix in the spices. Melt the duck fat and butter in a small pan, then fold into the spicy potato mixture. Spread into a 30cm × 25cm shallow baking tin in an even layer.
2. Cook the potatoes · Roast the rösti for 12–14 minutes, until the potato is just cooked but still firm. Remove from the oven and very gently mix through the potato flour and season with salt and pepper. Be gentle with the mixture – try not to break up the strands of potatoes.
3. Shape the rösti · Line a 20cm × 15cm baking tin that is at least 5cm deep with parchment paper and add the potato mixture in an even layer, making sure the corners are just as deep and pressing it down firmly with the back of a spoon. The depth of the rösti must be an even 5cm all over. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and put another tray on top, then press with a weight (a few tin cans will do the trick) and chill overnight.
4. Deep-fry the rösti · Heat a deep-fat fryer with oil to 180°C (350°F). Remove the rösti mixture from the fridge and take off the weights, extra tray and layer of parchment, then cut into 6–8 roughly 100g portions. Fry the rösti in a couple of batches until they are crisp and golden brown – this will take about 3–4 minutes. Remove each batch and drain on kitchen paper. Season with a little extra salt, if liked, and serve immediately.