Ingredient

Bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak is leftover potato and greens fried together until crisp. It is one of the best things to do with the remains of a roast, and it needs exactly one piece of technique: leave it alone in the pan long enough to form a crust. Stirring it is why most versions are disappointing.

The crust is the point

Bubble and squeak is a dish about contrast: a deep brown crisp crust against a soft, savoury interior. Everything else is assembly.

Making that crust needs three things. A hot pan and real fat — dripping, goose fat, bacon fat or butter, and more than feels necessary. A firmly pressed, even layer, so the whole surface is in contact with the pan. And time without interference: five to eight minutes undisturbed on one side before you even think about looking.

The temptation to stir is strong, because the top looks pale and nothing appears to be happening. Everything is happening underneath. Turn it too soon and you break the crust into fragments and end up with fried mash.

When it does come to turning, either flip it in one piece with the help of a plate, or break it into large sections and turn those. Both are legitimate; what is not legitimate is stirring.

The method

1. Start with cold leftovers. Cold potato holds together and fries; warm, freshly mashed potato is too loose and steams.
2. Roughly chop or crush the potato — mashed, roasted or boiled all work. Do not purée it; texture is wanted.
3. Chop the greens — cabbage, sprouts, kale, spring greens, leeks. Squeeze out any water.
4. Mix them together with plenty of salt and black pepper. Bacon, onion, leftover meat or a little cheese are all welcome. Some cooks add an egg or a little flour to bind, which helps if the mixture is loose.
5. Get a heavy frying pan properly hot with a generous amount of fat.
6. Add the mixture and press it down into an even layer with a spatula, right to the edges.
7. Now leave it. Five to eight minutes over a medium-high heat, without touching it, until you can smell it browning and the edges look crisp.
8. Turn it — in one piece using a plate, or in large sections — and crisp the other side.
9. Serve immediately, with a fried egg on top and brown sauce or ketchup if that is your household.

The relatives

Nearly every part of these islands has a version, and the differences are worth knowing.

Bubble and squeak

English. Potato and greens, usually cabbage or sprouts, fried until crisp. Traditionally made from Sunday roast leftovers on the Monday.

Colcannon

Irish. Mashed potato with kale or cabbage, butter and spring onion. Served soft rather than fried — a different dish.

Champ

Irish. Mashed potato with spring onions and a great deal of butter and milk. No greens.

Rumbledethumps

Scottish Borders. Potato, cabbage and onion, often baked with cheese on top.

Stovies

Scottish. Potatoes cooked slowly with onion and leftover meat and dripping. Softer, more of a stew.

Panackelty

North East England. Layered potato, onion and corned beef or bacon, baked slowly.

The name, and the older dish

The name is straightforwardly onomatopoeic — the sound of the cabbage bubbling and squeaking as it fries.

The dish is older than the version most people make now. Eighteenth and nineteenth-century recipes for bubble and squeak are usually cold beef fried with cabbage, with the potato either absent or incidental. It was a way of using up cold roast meat, and the potato-led version we would recognise seems to have become dominant later.

That is worth knowing mostly because it licenses you to put leftover meat in it, which is excellent and which some people regard as a deviation. Historically it is the opposite of a deviation.

What all versions share is the underlying idea, which is a good one: cold cooked vegetables, plenty of fat, high heat, and the patience to let a crust form.

Common questions