Sometimes creating a tasty piece of fusion is as simple as popping one dish on top of the other. While I’m not inclined to rob myself of praise, today’s mashup was really a no-brainer. Çilbir (Turkish Eggs) perched on top a golden potato rösti? Why wouldn’t you want something like that? I’m only surprised I haven’t seen it before. It is the perfect brunch food. Golden crispy potatoes to soothe any potential hangovers, delicately poached eggs with runny yolks, paired with the enlivening sharp tang of yogurt. This is the stuff brunch dreams. Oh and there’s chili butter! Yeah, you’re going to need this Cilbir Potato Rösti in your life.
Now, before I launch into this recipe, we should probably talk about what these two dishes are when they’re not hanging out together. So, let’s talk about what çilbir and a potato rösti are. Çilbir is a Turkish dish that features garlicky, herb-tastic yogurt topped with poached eggs drowned in chili butter typically made with Aleppo pepper flakes. A potato rösti is more or less a giant hashbrown from Switzerland comprised of shredded potato, salt, and butter. And now that you know what the two dishes are, tell me they don’t belong together. You can’t because they so clearly do.
When this idea popped into my head, I simply couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. Yogurt and potatoes cross paths frequently in the culinary world. Particularly in the modern era, more and more households reach for yogurt instead of sour cream when topping their baked potatoes. And in my half-Jewish household, we pair potato latkes with labneh and smoked salmon every Hanukkah. The same could be easily said for eggs and potatoes. When you picture your ideal breakfast fry up, tell me it doesn’t include 2 eggs your way and a pile of home fries. To do any differently would be a crime against breakfast.
So, as you can see, this Çilbir Potato Rösti is a very good brunch idea. But you might be wondering, how easy and/or practical is it to put together. Well, as with most brunches, this recipe is all about timing. You want the eggs, rösti, and chili butter hot and the yogurt cold at the same time. And to add another potential complication, every component in this dish has a different cook time. But oddly, even with these considerable odds, each piece of this dish dovetailed into the other in terms of timing. The only outlier is the eggs, which will have to sit for a moment or two. But if you step lightly and have all your ingredients at the ready, the eggs won’t suffer too much.
So that’s everything you need to know about this Çilbir Potato Rösti. It’s a delicious piece of fusion and an impressive multi-serving brunch you’ll be proud to deliver to the table. Check out the video below for a more detailed explanation of this dish. And if you enjoy the video, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. I post a new recipe every week and there are a whole lot of other video goodies I post in between.
Enjoy!
Çilbir Potato Rösti with Fresh Mint
Equipment
- Large Non-stick skillet
- Large, deep skillet
- Box Grater
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 2 large russet potatoes scrubbed
- 1 tsp kosher salt divided
- 1 ¼ cup yogurt 3% milkfat or higher
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter divided
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes **
- Fresh mint leaves and blossoms for serving
Instructions
- Shred the potatoes using a grater before transferring them to a large bowl. Add 1/2 of salt and some fresh ground pepper and toss to coat. Set the potatoes aside and let them sit for 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are resting, add the garlic and mint to the yogurt in a small bowl. Add the remaining salt and stir to combine. Chill until ready to serve.
- Once the 15 minutes have passed, line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth and pour the shredded potato into the strainer. Gather the edges of the cheesecloth to form a bundle and squeeze the potato to force as much moisture out of the potatoes as possible. Return the potato to the bowl and set it aside.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a large non-stick skillet. Heat the oil until it starts to shimmer, rotating the pan to ensure even coverage. Add the potato to the pan and press it with the back of a spoon to ensure it is evenly distributed.
- Dot the surface of the potato with 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter cut into cubes. Keep the heat at medium to medium-low depending on how hot your stove runs and set the timer for 10 minutes. Let the potatoes cook undisturbed. The butter will begin to melt through the potatoes slowly.
- Cover the rosti with a large plate and carefully invert the frying pan to flip the rosti. Carefully slide the rosti off of the plate and back into the pan. Fry for an additional 8 minutes.
- While the rosti is frying, poach some eggs. Fill a large deep skillet with water and place it over high heat. Bring the water to a boil before reducing to a gentle simmer. Add the white vinegar.
- Crack an egg into a ramekin. Using a spoon, create a sort of vortex in the center of the pot. Bring the ramekin right up to the water’s surface and pour the egg in. Repeat with the remaining eggs, taking care to create smaller gentler vortexes, so as not to disturb the eggs already in the pot. Set the timer for 3 minutes.
- Once the three minutes have passed, take the eggs out of the water and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel, and it set aside.
- Discard the water and wipe out the skillet you used to cook the eggs in. Add the remaining butter and Aleppo pepper flakes. Add a pinch of salt and let the butter melt and get acquainted with the pepper flakes, this shouldn’t take more than a minute.
- By now, the rosti should be done. Once again, place a plate on top of the rosti and invert the pan. Transfer the plate with the rosti to the counter and top with the yogurt you made earlier. Place the poached eggs on top of the yogurt and drizzle with the chili butter. Finish the dish with fresh mint leaves and blossoms. Serve immediately.
