Frying bean or mashed potato patties

[herjulia]

I'm just wondering about technique. I've tried several times to make either mashed potato or bean patties. The usual ideas is the potato or bean mash, plus sauted onion, beaten egg, seasoning.

My problem is they always fall apart, and don't remain "patties". I've had them when other people cook them, and they have a nice firmness and crispness. I don't know if mine are too watery, if my temp isn't high enough, or if maybe I need more oil.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Julia

[gfbentomom]

I make what I call mashed potato patties with leftover mashed or boiled potatoes. With anything like this, if you add veg. like onion, you want to keep it finely choppped so that it won't interfere with the patty holding together. I would think that the egg would help hold it together, however, I add no egg and mine hold together fine. As you suspect, the amount of liquid is important. I do keep my mashed potatoes slightly drier than some. One other thing I do is to lightly coat the patty in flour before placing it in the oil in the frying pan. I use a moderate heat and a fair amount of oil and let a nice golden brown thin crust form before flipping. That crust helps it hold together. They are a bit delicate, so I handle gently but they do stay together. Hope that helps.