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Friday, March 20, 2015

Recipe: Making the Perfect Rosti

Do you know that rosti is the national dish of Swiss? The reason is simple - rosti is amazing stuff. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's not exactly healthy, but it is delicious as hell, and super easy to make. If you are craving for Marche's rosti one fine day, tell you what, make it yourself.

Why leh? 

(1) A hell lot cheaper, and (2) a hell lot better. 2 reasons enough or not?




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Difficulty: Easy
Yields 1 9-inch rosti

Ingredients

3 medium-sized potatoes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and freshly grounded black pepper, to taste

(scallions and chopped bacon are optional, but they sure do bring the rosti to another level)
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Steps

1. Peel the potatoes and grate them using the larger holes, into a large bowl. Wash the grated potatoes under a running tap to get rid of any excess starch, then drain as much liquid as possible.

2. Add in the salt and pepper to taste, toss until equally mixed. Unless you are adding bacon or diagnosed with diabetes, don't scrimp on the salt. A nice amount (about 1 or 2 tsp) is good enough to bring out the potatoes' natural flavour.

3. Working with a fistful at a time, squeeze the remaining moisture out, and transfer it to another bowl. If you're adding any chopped scallions or bacon, now is the time to mix it all in.

4. Heat up a medium sized (about 9-inch) with medium heat, then add the vegetable oil, coating the base thoroughly. You know the heat is right, when you throw in a shred of potato, and it starts to sizzle like a Bond girl.

5. Throw in, no don't do that. Add the potato mixture, one handful at a time, wringing out whatever liquid that is, into the middle of the pan first, and then spreading it to the sides. Once the pan is filled, gently push down the mixture with the back of a wooden spatula to make it compact (about 1/2 inch thick).

6. Cook for about 10 to 12 minutes until it is golden-brown on the bottom and slightly translucent on the top.

7. Time to flip that shit. If you are a master chef or a wannabe, you can try to flip the rosti in the pan. If you are not as steady as limbei, off the heat, put a plate over the pan (be careful, it's hot), then invert the pan, so now the (hopefully) golden brown side is facing up. On the heat and slide the rosti back to continue cooking for another 5 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside.

8. Serve immediately. Although rosti is best eaten hot, I know you will definitely instagram and add a hell lot of #. You can top your homemade rosti with some sour cream and salmon for your better-than-Marche experience, or you can add a poached egg, or perhaps some scrambled eggs to make it a more filling meal.

Now you won't be eating rosti outside again.