Huevos Rotos

Name: Huevos Rotos
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: Floury potatoes; Olive oil; 5 medium eggs; Lean cooked ham; Salt

317 kcal a serving, against 490 for the traditional version. That is 173 kcal off, or 35%, with 17.7g of protein. Serves 4. 40 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Potatoes, deep-fried till golden and puffy, are spread on a plate. Eggs get fried in plenty of oil until the whites are set and the yolks ooze. A heap of jamón serrano is scattered over the lot. The best bit is breaking the yolks so everything runs together, then mopping it up with bread.

What changed, and what each change costs

Deep-fried potatoes swapped for oven-roasted

There isn't a way round it: deep-fried potatoes drink up oil like a sponge. Roasting them on a tray with a thin coat of oil means you'll use about an eighth as much, and your kitchen won't smell like a chip shop for three days.

What it costs you. You don't get the puffed, creamy middle or the shatter of a true fry. These are crisper on the edges, chewier in the centre, and a bit more honest. If you want the chip-shop experience, you'll need a deep-fryer and no regrets.

Jamón serrano swapped for lean cooked ham

Jamón's wonderful, but you pay a steep fat tax for those marbled ribbons. Lean ham does the salty, savoury job with far less fat and still brings enough flavour that the dish won't sulk.

What it costs you. Ham isn't jamón. It's saltier and won't melt into the eggs the way jamón does. But it's not trying to trick you. If you want that deep nutty taste, it's jamón or nothing.

Potatoes portion unchanged, but boosted egg for protein

It's already a good serving of potatoes for four. Instead, I throw in an extra egg for a bit more protein, which helps the dish land harder at brunch.

What it costs you. More egg means more yolk to break and run over the potatoes. That's not much of a sacrifice.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Floury potatoes
Olive oil
5 medium eggs
Lean cooked ham
Salt

How it starts

Heat the oven to 220C and stick a flat baking tray in to preheat.
Peel and cut the potatoes into chunky chips (about 1cm thick).
Drain and let them steam dry in the colander for a couple of minutes, then toss gently with half the olive oil and all the salt.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Spanish.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	490	317
Protein	15.8g	17.7g
Fat	32g	11.4g
Saturated fat	5.7g	3.2g
Carbohydrate	35.7g	35.8g
Protein per 100 kcal	3.2g	5.6g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Spanish prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. eggs, gluten.

The method is in the book

Nobody's claiming you're getting the proper bar snack experience without a deep fryer and a big pile of jamón. If you're after the original, book a flight and don't let anyone stop you. But for a weeknight breakfast-for-dinner, you'll polish off every last potato all the same. It's quicker, cheaper, and still messy in the right way. If you want a bit of the old magic, go heavy on the salt and be generous with the eggs.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Spanish, along with 57 more. Buy the paperback