Tortilla Española
Potatoes poached soft in olive oil, steeped in beaten egg, then set slowly so the middle stays just short of firm.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 40m
- Waiting
- 20m
- Total
- 1h 20m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Involved
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 700 g | Poach the potato and onion in the oil until translucent and yielding 25m The oil should barely shiver, around 130°C. You are softening, not frying, so nothing should brown. | Steep the drained potato and onion in the beaten egg 20m This rest is not optional. The potato takes up egg and the two become one thing rather than layers. | Set over a low heat until the edges lift and the base is gold 8m Low. High heat browns the outside before the centre has thickened at all. | Flip onto a plate and slide it back in for 3 more minutes 6m Plate over pan, one confident movement, both hands. Hesitation is what causes accidents. | |
| 1 | |||||
| 400 ml | |||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 6 | Beat the eggs with salt until completely uniform 2m | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
-
Poach the potato and onion in the oil until translucent and yielding
25m- waxy potatoes 700 g
- onion 1
- olive oil 400 ml
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
The oil should barely shiver, around 130°C. You are softening, not frying, so nothing should brown.
-
Beat the eggs with salt until completely uniform
2m- eggs 6
- salt 1/2 tsp
-
Steep the drained potato and onion in the beaten egg
20m- from 1 Poach the potato and onion in the oil until translucent and yielding
- from 2 Beat the eggs with salt until completely uniform
This rest is not optional. The potato takes up egg and the two become one thing rather than layers.
-
Set over a low heat until the edges lift and the base is gold
8m- from 3 Steep the drained potato and onion in the beaten egg
Low. High heat browns the outside before the centre has thickened at all.
-
Flip onto a plate and slide it back in for 3 more minutes
6m- from 4 Set over a low heat until the edges lift and the base is gold
- olive oil 2 tbsp
Plate over pan, one confident movement, both hands. Hesitation is what causes accidents.
Why the potatoes are poached, not fried
At 130°C in oil, potato cells soften and their starch gelatinises without the surface ever drying out enough to brown or crisp. That leaves slices that collapse into the egg rather than sitting in it as discrete chips. The twenty minute steep then does something a quick mix cannot: the starch draws in liquid egg, so when it sets you get one continuous custard-and-potato mass. Set it gently and the middle stays barely runny, which in Spain is the point of argument and, for most people, the point.
Notes
- Save the poaching oil. Strained, it keeps for weeks and makes the next tortilla taste better.
- A well-seasoned or non-stick 22 cm pan and a plate wider than the pan. Both matter more than skill.
- Rest it ten minutes before cutting and eat it warm rather than hot.