How Gordon Ramsay Makes Restaurant-Quality Hash Browns At Home
If you've ever tried to cook crispy hash browns at home, you know that they rarely turn out exactly like the kind you get at a restaurant. Maybe they're gummy instead of crispy, gray instead of golden brown, or perhaps there's just something off about the flavor. Of course, as we all know, imperfect hash browns still taste good — it is fried potato, after all. But if you want to achieve that same restaurant quality on your own, there are a few steps you can follow. According to Gordon Ramsay, the key to getting the right flavor involves an ingredient you may not associate with hash browns.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, the celebrity chef shared that he doesn't just grate his potatoes, he also grates a bit of raw onion and mixes the two together. "That way, you get that nice balance of the onion flavor running through every little shard of potato," he explains. That savory, intoxicating flavor you taste when you eat hash browns at a restaurant? As it turns out, it's probably just onion. But that's far from Ramsay's only hash brown trick.
Remove moisture from the mix
No one likes soggy hash browns, least of all Gordon Ramsay. The way to avoid this, Ramsay explained on YouTube, is by removing as much moisture as possible before cooking. After salting, seasoning, and oiling the grated potato and onion, transfer it to a strainer and squeeze until the excess water is gone.
Ramsay recommends waxy potatoes when making hash browns, but according to MyRecipes, starchy potato varieties like Russet or Idaho yield even crispier potatoes. This is because they have a lower water content. Starchy potatoes, however, don't hold their shape as well, which is why Ramsay says he prefers the waxy variety.
Whatever potatoes you go with, make sure you use a piping hot pan. For best results, Ramsay adds pats of butter along the edges, and packs the potatoes in with a spatula. This helps the onions caramelize and the hash browns stick together. What you'll end up with after a few minutes of cooking will evoke those classic hash browns you order at a restaurant.