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Ferran Adria-Inspired Potato Chip Omelet with Crispy Onions

Ferran Adria is a legend in the world of great chefs around the world. He is most famous for his work at El Bulli in Spain, which was voted the best restaurant in the world many times over before it was closed.
The tortilla is perhaps the most commonly eaten breakfast item in Spain, an egg and potato omelet that is sometimes made with added poached onions.
A version of this tortilla dish appears in Ferran Adria’s 2011 cookbook, where he makes the omelet using potato chips, instead of potatoes poached in olive oil. The version described below is scaled-down from Mr. Adria’s recipe, but also includes French’s crispy fried onion rings in addition to the potato chips.

Ingredients

  • 8 whole eggs (at room temperature)
  • 4 cups potato chips
  • 1.5 cups store-bought fried onions (like French’s brand)
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp fresh chives (finely-sliced)
  • 2 Tbsp crème fraiche
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Instructions 

  • Whisk together the room temperature eggs in a large bowl for a few minutes to add
  • air to the mixture.
  • Add the potato chips, crispy fried onions, Kosher salt, and freshly-ground black
  • pepper.
  • Mix to combine everything.
  • Add the chives and crème fraiche and again mix to combine.
  • In a medium nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and increase the heat to medium.
  • When the pan is hot, add the egg mixture and stir to combine in the pan and get the
  • eggs warmed throughout.
  • Once the eggs are warm and beginning to coagulate on the very bottom of the pan,
  • stop stirring the mixture and reduce the heat slightly to just below medium.
  • Cook the omelet for roughly 4 minutes, until the edges are beginning to set in
  • addition to the bottom of the omelet.
  • Use a rubber spatula to gently and carefully begin to separate the edges of the
  • cooked omelet from the sides of the nonstick pan.
  • Begin to run the end of the rubber spatula gently against the pan under the edges
  • and the bottom cooked layer of the omelet.
  • *This just helps ensure that when you flip the omelet onto a plate, it releases
  • cleanly from the bottom and edges of the pan, instead of getting stuck.
  • Cook the tortilla (omelet, it’s called tortilla in Spain) on the first side until the
  • center of the eggs are just barely set, but still a bit wobbly and wet.
  • Plate a large flat plate over the top of the saute pan, and confidently flip the saute
  • pan over to allow the omelet to flip onto the plate.
  • *At this stage, when the omelet is on the plate, the cooked side that was touching
  • the bottom of the pan will now be facing up, and the uncooked side will be
  • touching the surface of the plate.
  • Add another Tbsp of olive oil to the bottom of the pan.
  • Carefully slide the omelet back into the pan, and continue to cook for an additional
  • 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom of the omelet is cooked and the inside of the
  • omelet is still soft.
  • Slide the omelet onto a plate, and serve warm, or at room temperature.

Notes

These Spanish-style omelets (tortillas) are a bit tricky to make for the first time, but
just have confidence, and realize that with a little practice you will be making these
like a pro.
Some of my favorite versions of the Spanish tortilla include a relatively wet center,
which is harder to cook compared to a tortilla that is drier and cooked-through. If
you are trying this for the first time, you will have more success if you cook your
omelet a bit longer. Once you get the hang of it, you can make the omelets softer
and wetter.