Boxty

Boxty (Irish Potato Pancakes)

A traditional Irish griddle cake made from a mixture of grated raw potato and mashed potato bound with flour and buttermilk, fried until golden. Once a humble farmhouse staple, boxty is now a fixture of modern Irish gastropubs.

Prep

20 min

Cook

25 min

Total

45 min

Serves

4 (makes about 8 pancakes)

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •450 g (1 lb) raw potato (floury type), Russet or Maris Piper work well; peel before grating
• •225 g (½ lb) cooked mashed potato, Plain, unseasoned; cool before mixing
• •150 g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
• •250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk, Traditional; do not substitute with regular milk
• •5 g (1 tsp) baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• •5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
• •freshly ground black pepper, freshly ground black pepper
• •60 g (¼ cup) butter, For the griddle, plus extra for serving
• •15 g (1 tbsp) chopped chives or scallion greens, Optional, for mixing into the batter

Steps

1. 1 Place the grated raw potato in a clean tea towel and squeeze firmly over the sink to extract as much moisture as possible. This step is essential for a batter that holds together and browns properly. Reserve the liquid briefly, let the starch settle, and discard the watery top, adding the white starch back into the potato.
2. 2 In a large bowl, combine the squeezed raw potato with the cooled mashed potato. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and chives (if using) and mix briefly with a wooden spoon or your hands.
3. 3 Pour in the buttermilk and stir just until you have a thick, lumpy batter resembling a very wet drop scone mix. Do not overmix. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes; the flour will absorb liquid and the mixture will firm up slightly.
4. 4 Heat a heavy cast-iron griddle or large non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add about 15 g (1 tbsp) of the butter. The fat should sizzle gently when batter hits the pan — too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks, too cool and the pancakes turn greasy.
5. 5 Drop roughly 80 g (about ⅓ cup) of batter per pancake onto the griddle, leaving space between each. Use the back of a spoon to gently flatten each mound into a disc about 1 cm (⅓ in) thick.
6. 6 Cook for 3–4 minutes on the first side, until the underside is deeply golden and the edges look set. Flip carefully with a thin spatula and cook a further 2–3 minutes on the second side. The interior should be cooked through with no gummy raw potato in the centre; if uncertain, break one open — it should be soft, not translucent.
7. 7 Transfer cooked boxty to a plate lined with kitchen paper and keep warm. Melt more butter on the griddle between batches and repeat until all the batter is used.
8. 8 Serve immediately, topped with a knob of butter. Traditional accompaniments include smoked salmon and crème fraîche, bacon and a fried egg, or simply butter and a grind of black pepper.