Hash Brown Terminology

Question

If I order fried eggs for breakfast at a restaurant/diner, there's a pretty standard lexicon to communicate quickly how I want them done-- sunny side up, over easy, over well, etc. Even if I mess up and say "over hard" that's probably comprehensible.

Is there a similar lexicon for hash brown potatoes?

The preferred style here (United States) seems to be "crispy to the point of dried out or even burnt." I'd like to specifically know if there's a term for the opposite-- lightly crisp on the outside, but moist to the point of greasy on the inside-- but now that I'm really pondering it, I'd be curious to know if there's a consistent set of terms for hash browns in general.

Answer 1

There is not.

There isn't even agreement on what constitutes "hashed browns". Sometimes it's heaps of shredded potatoes, sometimes sheets or rounds or patties, and sometimes it's fried chopped potatoes (which is what "hashed" means).

So, you'll just have to settle for asking for them "lightly fried" or "dark brown" or whatever you want. And good luck with that; usually in breakfast places, there's a pile of hashed browns on the back of the griddle and you get what you get.

Answer 2

The simple answer is no, because unlike when ordering eggs or other things that have various levels of cooking methods I have never once been asked when ordering hashbrowns how I want them done.

Of course you can still try, but the biggest problem with what you are asking is that it's not straight-forward to make them that way -- and let's be honest, most places you get hashbrowns from aren't the type of places that can handle complicated or unusual requests.

"crispy to the point of dried out or even burnt.

I'll disagree with this a bit -- there are 2 styles, what you describe but also generally undercooked overall. And this is where the problem lies, at your typical breakfast food diner the cooks are using flat tops with extremely limited temperature control. What you are asking for is akin to a rare steak cooked at a good steakhouse; it has a well developed crusty exterior with barely any interior cooking.

The problem is you are looking for something in between these two and it would require rather specialized cooking (you need an extremely hot cooking surface to get the exterior crisp without drying out the interior) and a good amount of attention to get right. Maybe you can get this at a fancy brunch place. At most breakfast places this simply is not going to happen, they are cooking hashbrowns in batches for multiple orders and it is largely an afterthought while they work on the other dishes.

Answer 3

I think is most often used, but not as a convention, but more universally understandibility.

I say, "Light", "tan or golden", "dark", and "burn em".

Burn-em on both sides is what I prefer for corned beef hash.

Answer 4

It sounds like what you are looking for is hash browns "properly cooked". Excellent hash browns are crispy and golden brown on the outside, while the potato shreds inside are hot, tender and moist. Clearly, you can't ask for "properly cooked" so what I do is look around the room for hash brown examples that other diners have received, and if they look good, I order them. If they look over- or under-cooked, or just a loose pile of somewhat crispy shreds, I don't order them.