I’ve been trying to make hash browns with a fried egg for days now. The Fates, it seems, have had other thoughts.
I decided to make hash browns and fried egg for dinner several days ago. I bought potatoes at the Thursday market. Things were looking good. Usually I pay 2,000 Shillings for a bag of Irish potatoes. This time I mysteriously found the one Irish vendor in the entire market selling Irish for 1,000 Shillings. SCORE!
I was super excited. I barely heard the lewd boda drivers as I hurriedly walk to my small home. I waved and smiled at the girls who yell “By Muzungu Sara!” at me every day. I didn’t even notice the long, slippery grass that covers the hill leading down to my front door.
But wait. What’s this? NO EGGS?! I had no eggs. None. Can’t make hash browns with fried eggs without any eggs. As I picked up my keys to climb back up the hill and out to the small dukka* down the street to buy some eggs, I remembered. There were wooden boards in the dukka’s window. Closed.
The next day I made sure to buy some eggs from the now open dukka and returned home excited for the breakfast-for-dinner dinner I’d been dreaming about for days. Until I opened the ketchup. Smelled sour. Tasted a little tangy. Not right. Frustrated I ran up the hill and threw the ketchup bottle (quite hard) into the trash pit. Never mind that the bottle probably wouldn’t ever burn up. That stupid ketchup ruined my breakfast-for-dinner dinner!
Yesterday all things fell into place. Potatoes? Check. Eggs? check. Ketchup? Check. Let’s get cooking! and oh. It was good.
* Dukka = shop, usually selling some household goods, eggs, bread, juice and water, and airtime. Luganda language lesson of the day!
Hash Browns with Fried Egg
2-3 Irish potatoes (small tennis ball sized potatoes)
2 cloves garlic
1/8t black pepper
1/4t powdered ginger
Salt
1 egg
At least 2T oil for cooking
Ketchup (optional. But really, I don’t even want to know you if you don’t use ketchup. Unless you substitute chili sauce. Then I guess it’s ok. Maybe. Just watch yourself…)
After cleaning and peeling the potatoes, grate them on the largest holes of a box grater. Sprinkle with salt and pat out the moisture from the potatoes with a clean cloth or paper towel.
To the shredded potatoes add two minced cloves of garlic, 1/4 t black pepper, and 1/4 t powdered ginger. Mix well.
In a medium size skillet heat around 2T of oil until a test piece of potato begins to bubble when dropped in the oil. Slowly add all of the potato mixture into the oil and pat down evenly in a large circle. Flip when the bottom becomes golden brown. Remove from the pan onto a clean paper towel to drain when both sides are golden brown.
After letting some of the oil soak out onto the towel, place the hash browns on a plate and liberally smear ketchup on top.
In the same pan, add more oil if needed and crack one egg to fry. Fry the egg with a small amount of salt and pepper (if you’d like). I absolutely do NOT like runny eggs (and it’s really not that safe to eat runny eggs here in Uganda…) so I let mine cook all the way through. But make your eggs the way you prefer.
When your egg is cooked place it on top of the hash browns and ketchup. Enjoy!
The Little Bite 
Hash Browns are yummy! I may add fresh ground ginger instead of powdered the next time I make them. But, they made a nice side to the fritatta I made as the main dish.