Seeking Chinese Hash Browns...

[igj]

OK, so obviously not the real name of this dish. I just returned from China where I discovered a dish I'd never seen nor heard of. Although I had it all over Beijing, it was usually listed as a southern specialty - one place even called it a Guilin dish, although I didn't see while I was in Guilin.

The dish is simple: shredded potato fried with spicy peppers, lots of cilantro and spices. The potato was not very greasy (although maybe I was immune to oil/grease from all the yoh tiao I was eating in the mornings?) and the whole dish tasted like a spicy Chinese version of American hash browns.

Anyone know where to find this dish in the L.A. area?

Ta much - and eventually, I'll be posting about a few places over on the China board.

[kare_raisu]

looks sooo good....anyone willing to post a recipe on the home cooking board?

[slbear]

I have always thought it's a homecooking type of creation. I have never seen it in restaurants before, at least not in HK or here. (If this is what I think you are referring to). My grandma used to make some version of this when I was a kid. She was originally from northern part of china. It's real easy to make. She would just mix together shredded potatoe, chopped up chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and green onion and mixed together with an egg for sticking the ingredients together. Then she would add some salt and white pepper to taste and pan-fry it into small pancake with a crispiness outside (similar to homemade hashbrowns).

[Gary Soup]

I think the REAL "Chinese Hash Browns" (as I call them) are a Shanghainese specialty called "cifan gao." They're made from smashed rice (not potatatoes) shaped into patties and deep fried. You can see the resemblance in the pic linked below:

http://www.eatingchinese.org/bbspix/s...

[igj]

Here are the photos of the dish I am speaking about. Does this ring any local LA bells?

This might well be easy to make at home - if working with hot oil in a very hot house sounds appealing...which it really doesn't at the moment :)

http://static.flickr.com/48/183649578_2d5bb9b94c_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/61/183649577...

[Gary Soup]

It looks something like a Beijing dish which features lightly stir-fried julienned potatoes to which vinegar is added. The potatoes in the Beijing dish are still almost raw, however, and all those chilis and spices aren't typically added. My SIL learned to make a version of that dish in Shijiazhuang.

[Petitpois]

You're right - it does look a bit like suanla tudou pian'r (except that dish has more sauce), but I think this is xiangla tudou pian'r, known among local expats as Beijing's answer to French fries! I've heard that it's a Dongbei dish.

[Petitpois]

In Beijing this is known as xiangla tudou pian'r and is a classic laowai (read: foreigner) dish. I've seen them with the potatoes shredded or sliced into thin disks. Probably pretty easy to recreate at home, no?

[Dave Feldman]

Oh my gosh, this dish sounds like heaven and I've never heard of it. If you don't get a response here, maybe you should try the General Topics board -- at least you might get an identification of the dish.