Refresh Your Toast With Hash Brown Avocado
The downside to being a great genius is that people are quick to dismiss your ideas simply because they are too intimidated by your brain and body. Why else would I be ridiculed for confusing a martini with monosodium glutamate only to see it in a brilliant PUNCH spread years later? What other explanation could there be for my thoughts about caviar tasting being ignored only for the New York Times to (edible) brand the practice as ” cones “? (Don’t say “audience size” or “SEO”. The answer is obvious: “envy” and “sexism”.)
I suspect similar forces are at work in the recent viral prominence of avocado fritters, which I covered more than three years ago in my groundbreaking article Fritters Are the New Toast . Trader Joe’s hash brown patty, avocado and egg combo is just now gaining popularity on TikTok , but I haven’t really hardened. I’m glad that the glory of toast with pancakes is being shared with the masses. This, after all, is the whole point of food media.
The basic format of this dish is an air-fried oblong fritter patty (cook 12 minutes at 400℉) topped with avocado and egg. Sometimes avocados are cut into slices, sometimes they are mashed. The egg is usually fried. Much of the variation between recipes has to do with the finishing touches, but bagel seasonings, chili chips, and parmesan cheese are all common.
That’s all well and good—great, in fact—but I have even more great suggestions, as well as a few strategies for optimizing every aspect of the dish (because that’s the work I’m paid to do).
Hash Brown
An oblong fritter patty is already pretty perfect. In fact, the only trick I’d suggest is to make a giant brown waffle in your waffle iron with the smart use of potatoes. The larger your pancake, the more avocados you can eat on that pancake.
Avocado
Again, avocados are pretty good on their own, but this is where I think a little lily gold would work. A pinch of lime or lemon, a dash of umeboshi (spicy and salty) vinegar, a dash of soy sauce, fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce can all be added to an avocado to give it a slightly tangy flavor. (I haven’t tried it yet, but I think a layer of onion sauce or labneh between the hash brown and the avocado would be a great grip.)
If you really want to surprise your mouth (or anyone else), put on a thin layer of nduja – spicy, fermented pork cooked with Calabrian chili. “Nduja is spicy, fatty and salty, but also fruity and quirky, which does wonderful things with avocados. (Can’t find a real nduja? You can make your own approximation with charcuterie and chili.)
Egg
Fried eggs are my passion and there are tons of ways to enhance your sunny side frying experience. My number one tip is to use more fat than you need, whether it’s butter , olive oil , or bacon fat . You want to add at least three tablespoons to two eggs—just enough to coat the whites with hot, sizzling fat, allowing them to finish cooking before the yolk gets too hard, while ensuring the edges are as lacy as possible.
You can also fry an egg in a pool of cream , on a bed of cheese, or sprinkle herbs and seasonings directly into the egg whites . To make umami, add tomatoes and sauté them in tomato paste or sun-dried tomato oil.
Finishers
Chili chips are actually pretty hard to improve, but you can make your own if you like that sort of thing. Any vegetable oil will also spice up your toast, like pesto, salt flakes, a cloud of parmesan or pecorino, a small amount of fresh herbs, French-style fried onions (like you get in a green bean casserole), or any other crunchy, savory topping. . But start with chili chips. Chili chips and eggs should go together.