German Potato Hash ジャーマンポテトハッシュ

Japanese Izakaya version of so-called "German potato" appears to be rather fatty and they often (not always) use commercial frozen french fries. Onion is cooked with bacon and then combined (Mark's book p24). Instead of the Japanese variation or a classic German potatoes, I make a hybrid between Potato hash and German potatoes. This is perfect for breakfast as well as a snack with a drink. My version is less fatty but not bad (albeit not photogenic either).

This will make a generous (for us at least) serving for two. Instead of bacon, I use roasted pork tender loin seasoned with rosemary, which we cook often. We use the leftovers for sandwiches and other dishes such as this one. I cut small strips of roasted pork tenderloin (about 2 inches long) and fry it with a small amount of olive oil (1 tbs) until the edges get crispy and start to smell a bit like bacon (it's the same animal after all). I add onion, halved and sliced into thin strips (one small) and saute until soft and slightly browned. I season it with salt and pepper. I set these cooked items aside on a plate. 

Meanwhile, I thinly slice and julienne white potatoes (2 medium) and add olive oil (1 tbs) in the same frying pan and saute until all the potato pieces are coated with oil and add the mixture of the pork and onion back into the potatoes. I season again with salt and pepper. After sauteing for 1-2 minutes, I flatten the mixture into a thin disk using a silicon spatula (just in case you have not noticed, I love silicon spatulas) (left images below). I turned down the flame to low and put on a tight fitting lid so that the bottom browns and the rest of the potatoes steam. I cook it like this for 10 minutes. Shake the pan to make sure the entire disk of hash moves as a single unit (meaning the bottom is not sticking and all the potato pieces are sort of melded together because of the starch.) If any portion is sticking, use the spatula to encourage the potato to unstick from the bottom of the pan and flip (right image below). (The flipping part requires some skill to make it all return to the pan as desired. That is one reason you make sure that the pieces are melded together)

Now, keep frying for another 5 minutes, so that the other side becomes brown and crispy. I cut this into 4 quarters and serve. You could serve this with a side of ketchup. For breakfast, serve this with fried egg(s). You could, of course, use real bacon and bacon grease to fry the onion and potato which will make this dish definitely better. But for a lower-fat alternative, this is not bad at all.