Potatoes with Broken Egg

(click to enlarge)	Potatoes with Broken Egg Spain - Huevos Rotos / Huevos Estrellados
(click to enlarge)	Serves: Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	4 side *** 1-1/2 hr Prep		An extremely popular dish served in Tapas Bars all over Spain, and made in many variations. See General, and the rest of the Notes.

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Potatoes (2)
Water
Vinegar
Onion
-- Seasoning
Paprika, smoked
Chili Flake (3)
Salt
Pepper
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Olive Oil
Olive Oil (4)
-- Finish
Eggs, Fried (3)
-- Garnish
Parsley chopped
--Serve with
Lemon Wedges

DoAhead Option - Can be done a day or more ahead and refrigerated. (25 min)

Peel POTATOES and cut as desired. For the photo they were sliced a little less than 3/8 inch thick and into short sticks (See Potatoes).
Bring 2 quarts of Water to a boil and add 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar. Dump in the Potatoes and boil until just cooked through. You will notice the outside surfaces will be slightly hardened by the vinegar, for better frying. Drain and refresh with cold water. Drain very well (I use a salad spinner).

Prep - (10 min)

Cut ONIONS in quarters lengthwise, then fairly thin crosswise.
Mix all Seasoning items. Set 1 teaspoon aside for sprinkling.
Chop PARSLEY for garnish.

Run - (35 min)

Prepare everything you need for frying EGGS. See Eggs.
Break the Eggs into small shallow bowls so you know the yolks are unbroken and they are ready to be fried.
Select a suitable vessel to deep fry the Potatoes in. Place 2 Tablespoons of oil in it and fry the Onions until they are barely translucent and still fairly crisp. Scoop out onto paper toweling to drain
Add the deep fry oil to the pan and bring it up to about 360°F/180°C. Fry Potatoes in two batches. Fry stirring until just light golden - they will darken a bit when cooled, and the Seasoning will darken them more. Scoop out into a large mixing bowl lined with Paper Towels and keep warm.
Pull the Paper Towels from under the Potatoes and mix in the Seasonings mix and Onions. Distribute into serving bowls. and garnish with Parsley.
Fry the Eggs. They MUST be fried, covered, "Sunny Side Up", with whites just barely set and yolks completely liquid. Serve immediately. See Eggs.
Place an Egg on each serving of Potatoes and very lightly sprinkle a little of the reserved Seasoning over it.
Serve hot. Immediately upon serving, the egg yolk is broken open so the liquid yolk runs down into the Potatoes as a sauce.

NOTES:

General:
Like many very simple dishes, this one can be tricky. The potatoes are reasonably forgiving, but the eggs are not forgiving at all - they must be exactly right. The recipe given here is similar to how it is served in many Spanish Tapas Bars, and is one of the more demanding presentations - see also Variations.
Potatoes:
Russets are preferred for frying, but an "all purpose" potato like White Rose will work OK. Maybe even Yukon Gold type will work. Cutting into sticks is most common, but you can use other shapes. Baby Potatoes (white or red) can be used simply sliced 1/4 inch thick, skin on. For details see our Potatoes. page
Chili Flake:
The Spanish aren't into really hot, so Korean flake is a good choice.
Olive Oil:
The amount given presumes you will fry in two batches, which won't take much more time than a single batch. A single batch would take 2 cups of Oil. I use Pure Olive Oil which can stand fairly high temperatures. The Oil can be filtered through a paper towel and used for other frying.
Eggs:
Cooking the Eggs is critical - if they are not right the dish is ruined. You must have a cover to set over the eggs as soon as they are on the heat, or the yolks will be ruined long before the whites are set through. I use an 11x11 inch electric skillet with glass cover, set to 330°F/165°C, checked with an infra-red thermometer. It'll do 4 eggs at once. With this set-up, the Eggs are ready in 2 to 2-1/2 minutes from hitting the surface. Be sure to let electric pans preheat, at first their temperatures are very wild. Preheat with the cover on so it is warm too.
Variations:
As is so often the case with simple traditional recipes, this one is made in many variations. It is thought to have originated in the Spanish Canary Islands, where it was favored by the poor. It is now popular all over Spain, particularly in Madrid. In its purest form, still popular, it is just SSU Eggs over fried potatoes, but today it is most often elaborated with toppings.
- Today, some Tapas Bars greatly simplify preparation by serving the Egg over Potato Chips. If you do that, try to use one of the more "natural" varieties and without flavorings which would conflict with the Seasoning mix.
- Some cooks fry the potatoes only until cooked through, not browned. If you do this skip the boiling with vinegar step.
- At least one Spanish cook admits that when she does this recipe at home, she simply boils the potatoes and dresses with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Toppings The recipe given here is vegetarian, but it is very common in Spain to top with small pieces of fried Chorizo, Chistorra, Bacon, or with very thinly slice Serrano Ham (not fried). A topping of marinated red peppers would be good for vegetarian.
Health
Eggs fried as given here are considered by the FDA to be "undercooked". This is no problem here in "over regulated" California, where sickness from home cooked eggs is practically unknown, but if you live in one of those "business friendly" Red States (or if you know your immune system is compromised), you might want to make it topped with "pasteurized egg" (more expensive), or even scrambled eggs.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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Potatoes with Broken Egg

General:

Potatoes:

Chili Flake:

Olive Oil:

Eggs:

Variations:

Health