The Best Way To Add Eggs To Your Breakfast Hash Is Also The Simplest

Enjoying a breakfast hash is a hearty way to start the morning. Not to mention, it can be made with whatever is in your fridge or pantry — there's no one recipe or style. The term itself comes from the French verb "hacher," meaning "to chop," and there are differing versions served across cultures. 

Whether it's from a diner or homemade, leftover potatoes or meat sauteed in a skillet with whatever herbs and chopped vegetables you have on hand and lightly enhanced with stock or other condiments, makes for a cozy and satisfying start to the day. But one of the best additions to a hash isn't chopped up — it's an egg. The best way to add it to the meal is by topping the dish with a fried egg.

The simplest way to make a fried egg is to heat a pan over medium-high heat with oil. Then, when the oil gets hot (almost shimmering), add the eggs to the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top and let them sit in the pan undisturbed for two minutes or until the whites around the yolk are cooked, the yolk still appears loose, and you've achieved the desired crispiness on the edges. When you serve up your finished hash, top it with one of these lacy-edged fried eggs and let the yolk ooze out as you make the first cut.

There are several methods to making a fried egg, including adding water to the pan and covering it or cooking it on low heat with melted butter. However, if you want the crispiest fried egg, the simplest method involves using oil. While melted butter infuses buttery flavor, it has the tendency to burn faster than oil. 

The benefits of using extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil, or oils with a higher smoke point such as peanut, grapeseed, and avocado, is that they can get hotter than butter. This allows the egg to really crisp up, causing the edges and bottoms to get pleasantly crunchy while the yolk remains runny. You can even baste the egg with the hot oil to make the whites bubble up and set quicker.

With so many variations to the dish, hash isn't only topped with a fried egg. Other versions include adding a poached egg or scrambling the eggs into the hash itself. Still, if you're craving a crispy white and a runny yolk, a simple fried egg cooked in minutes is the perfect addition to a satisfying breakfast hash.