Salt Beef Hash

Serves 4

Takes 35 minutes, plus 6 hours for slow cooking the salt beef

A wonderfully simple brunch dish to impress the whole family. A jammy egg yolk is the perfect pairing with savoury salt beef and lightly spiced potatoes. We recommend cooking the salt beef the day before to make this recipe as quick as it is easy. That way, your loved ones will be devouring this in no time at all.

1. Preheat your oven to 160C, place the salt beef in a baking tray and pour in the 500ml of water, we recommend not using stock for this as the meat is already rather salty. Cover well with foil so no air can escape and place in the oven for 5 hours to slow roast. Remove from the oven, drain away any excess liquid (or keep to use as a stock for future cooks) and set aside to cool. We tend to do this step the day before we cook the dish, to get ahead of time.
2. Set a pot of well-salted water on to boil, add in the potato chunks and cook for 6 minutes until tender but still with a bite. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. Once the salt beef has completely cooled, roughly chop the salt beef into small-ish chunks, keeping some a little larger than others. Set aside.
4. Place a wide frying pan on a medium heat and add 1 tbsp oil, add in the onions and fry gently until softened but not coloured, approx. 8 minutes. If they look like they are catching, pour in a splash of water.
5. Add in the salt beef and turn the heat up slightly, fry the salt beef until the chunks have a golden crust. Season with the smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder, white pepper and coriander, stirring well to combine, continue to fry for another 5 minutes to cook out the spices.
6. Add in the potatoes and gherkins and stir through to coat with the oils and spices, season to taste with salt at this stage if you feel it needs some. This is typically a rather dry dish so don’t worry if there isn’t much liquid.
7. Place a smaller frying pan on a medium heat with a glug of oil and fry your eggs to your liking. Serve on top of a portion of the salt beef hash, scatter with the chopped chives and finish with a drizzle of chilli oil (optional) enjoy!

• 2kg salt beef
• 500ml water
• 4 large loose potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
• Olive oil, for frying
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 6 gherkins, diced
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 4 eggs
• Handful of chives, finely chopped
• Chilli oil, for drizzling (optional)