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Ingredients
Method
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Slice the potatoes to an even 5mm thickness. Uneven slices will cook at different rates and you will end up with some raw, some overdone. A mandoline is the cleanest tool for this job, but a steady hand and a sharp knife work fine.
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Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the potato slices and par-boil for exactly 6 minutes from the point the water returns to the boil. You want them just tender at the edge but still holding their shape completely. Drain carefully in a colander and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes. This step matters: excess moisture in the pan will steam the potatoes instead of frying them.
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Heat the oil in a large, wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. A 28cm or 30cm pan gives the potatoes room to sit in a single layer, which is what you need for colour. If the pan is too crowded, reduce the quantity and cook in two batches.
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When the oil shimmers and a potato slice dropped in sizzles immediately, add the potatoes in a single layer. Do not stir. Leave them undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes until the underside is golden and starting to catch at the edges. Turn them gently with a fish slice or wide spatula. They will break apart slightly; that is fine and expected.
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Add the sliced onion and green pepper to the pan, distributing them evenly among the potato slices. Season with the salt, black pepper, and paprika. Stir gently once to combine, then leave largely undisturbed for another 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat, turning the mixture two or three times total. You are looking for the onion to go soft and translucent, the pepper to soften without going limp, and the potatoes to develop more golden patches and a few darker, crisp edges.
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Add the butter to the pan in the last 2 minutes of cooking. It will foam around the edges of the potatoes and add a nuttiness that oil alone does not give. Tilt the pan and spoon the butter over the top of the mixture once.
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Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from the heat, scatter with chopped parsley, and serve immediately directly from the pan. These do not hold well; the texture goes soft and greasy if left sitting.
Irish Context
The potato has been the backbone of Irish cooking for centuries, grown in almost every county and eaten at virtually every meal in some households within living memory. O'Brien's Potatoes is a pan-fried preparation that turns the leftover or freshly boiled potato into something worth eating in its own right rather than as a plain accompaniment.
The addition of onion and green pepper gives the dish a slightly American diner quality, which reflects the way Irish-American cooking filtered back into Ireland during the twentieth century, appearing in households and cafes where it gradually became familiar enough to feel domestic. Whether you call it a side dish or the main event of a quick lunch, it is the kind of thing that gets cooked because there are potatoes to use and not much else needs doing.
Tips
Floury potatoes are non-negotiable here. A waxy variety will hold together but will not give you the slightly fluffy interior that makes the dish worthwhile.
Roosters are the most widely available in Ireland and work very well. Do not skip the par-boiling step in the hope of saving time.
Raw potato slices fried from scratch tend to cook unevenly and absorb significantly more oil before they soften. If your frying pan is not wide enough, the potatoes will steam rather than fry and you will lose the colour entirely.
Two batches, or a second pan running alongside, is a better option than overcrowding. The paprika is subtle here, barely detectable as a distinct flavour, but it adds a warmth and a slight orange tinge to the oil that coats the potatoes.
Do not increase the quantity or it will dominate. Lard, if you have it, gives a slightly better result than sunflower oil.
The flavour is quieter and the potatoes brown more evenly. Butter alone burns before the potatoes are cooked through, which is why it goes in at the end rather than the beginning.
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