Now that’s a crispy latke!
Let me apologize immediately for the poor photography, but I have a very good excuse. An all-out hanukkah latke binge is something I look forward to every year. I wanted to get myself on the outside of those latkes immediately, and you should actually be amazed that I stopped to take a picture at all.
I’m a latke purist. Please do not darken my digital doorstep with tales of pumpkin-chipotle latkes or Thai-spice latkes. For me, a latke should contain: Russet potato, onion, egg, salt, flour, and be fried in a decent amount of oil, and then be served with applesauce and sour cream, and more salt.
By the way, and I’m not the only one who thinks so, the closest thing in civilian life to a good latke is an order of scattered and smothered hash browns at Waffle House. Ask for them well done.
[Sidebar to the latke uninitiated: this is terrible! You must have latkes immediately! You are missing one of the world's great foods. There are still 3 nights of Hannukah left, so call a Jewish friend and beg them to make latkes for you. Or follow the recipe below anytime.]
We want the latkes to be as crispy as possible, and preferably served fresh from the frying pan. So the ideal way to do that is make them for, say, 4 people, or make them for a crowd but serve them standing up, spatulating direct to the diner’s plate. If that isn’t possible, the next best thing is to fry as many at a time as possible, keep them on a baking sheet, and quickly re-crisp at 400 degrees.
The key to good latke making is to extract as much water from the potatoes as possible. The best way to do that is to pre-salt them and let them rest a bit, then wrap the grated potatoes in cheesecloth or a clean towel, a couple handfuls at a time, and wring the heck out of them. Twist a wooden spoon handle up in the cloth to give you a bit more leverage.Get a little mad and get every drop out. Otherwise they will spit water at you from the frying pan and come out mushy.
This year I cribbed a new grating technique from Smitten Kitchen, but you can also use a box grater and do it by hand if you don’t mind a little workout. The texture of the food processor grated ones is a little different and I think I prefer it. The grating must be done not long before frying or the potatoes will oxidize to an unappetizing black. If you must grate them early, try putting plastic wrap tightly down on the surface and refrigerating.
Whatever else you have with a latke meal should be considered a mere formality, since inevitably everyone will stuff themselves on the cakes. I’ve provided the recipe in terms of ratio to a pound of potato. For my family, you need about nearly 1 pound per person. Seriously.
Crispy, Delicious Latkes for Hanukkah
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free
Multiply as needed to use 1 pound potato per person as a main course or half that as an appetizer (unimaginable, but just in case)
- 1 pound Russet potato, peeled
- 1/4 pound onion, preferably white but yellow is ok
- Kosher salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper (optional)
- vegetable oil for frying
- In a food processor or on a box grater, grate the potato and onion and mix together. Mix in 1.5 teapoons of kosher salt, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Uncover, squeeze down a bit and drain off excess water from the bowl. Now, working a handful or two at a time, wrap the mixture in a double layer of cheesecloth or a clean dish towel and wring the liquid out of them. Hard. Go to town. Wrap the gathered ends of the cloth around the handle of a wooden spoon and twist for extra leverage. Get them as dry as possible. Really. This makes a huge difference.
- Stir in the eggs, flour, and pepper and another 1/2 teaspoons of salt (since much of the original salt will have washed away).
- In a large skillet, heat about 1/8 inch of oil over a medium high flame. (If you are feeling your oats, you can use two or more large skillets at once). A bit of potato thrown in should immediately sizzle, but the oil shouldn’t be smoking. (You can use less oil, but they will be less delicious).
- Depending on what size you like your latkes, grab about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of potato, and add it to the oil. Immediately flatten to about 1/3 inch. You don’t want much thickness because the inside has to cook before the outside burns. Form the rest of the latkes the same way.
- When the first side is a dark, deep brown (see picture above), flip and continue cooking. When both sides are done, remove to a plate lined with paper towel. Sprinkle on a bit more salt.
- Be sure and taste one of the first ones to make sure it is cooked through. If not, reduce the heat a bit or make the next batch thinner.
- Try not to eat all of them yourself.
- Serve with applesauce, sour cream and more salt on the side.
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that’s a great blog entry! even though it’s pouring rain in phx, i want to run to the store right now and buy a bag of potatoes to make these. my family and i were just talking earlier tonight about how fun it would be to make latkes…if only we had a good recipe. great timing. thanks!
Michael, happy Hannukah to you and your family. I used a Martha recipe this year and her technique of adding starch BACK to the potatoes is ingenious – it produced the crispiest latke ever! (i have it on my blog too) I’m also a latke purist, but I prefer mine hand-grated and it only takes a few minutes longer.
Thanks for reminding me about the the potato starch trick! I’ve done that in
.
years past and it does indeed work well. I go back and forth on the grating
issue. Certainly the hand-grating is more traditional, but the food
processor does give a nice complexity to the texture. I suppose there have
been more important ideological schisms
Oh. My. Goodness. Yum!
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Happy Hannukah,
This is a very well-written article. Clear and concise
instructions for the recipe. Would be easy to follow for a beginning cook.
I do prefer using the food processor. Enjoy!
Happy Hanukkah!
I was whisked back to the days of my latke making. Unfortunately we have a grand daughter with multiple food allergies, and this year I was unable to successfully make latkes without eggs or flour! I’ve tried substitution flours and egg substitutes, but they don’t work! LOL
I enjoyed your post very much and in the spirit of Hanukkah, eat one with you in the virtual world.
my favourite is step 7. mmmmmmm!!!!!
These sound so great. I wish I had some potatos in the house! Might have to go shopping later….
You know, I gotta check to see if anyone read that far
These look amazing. I’m planning on making some latkes on the last night of Hannukkah – I’ll be making them the pure way as well!
Thanks for the comment Angela! Food allergies are a big issue in my family
as well, so I sure understand. One thing you might try collecting the
squeezed out water and straining it to retrieve the potato starch, and using
that instead of flour. Not sure what the best egg substitute for latkes
would be though. Maybe Ener-G egg replacer? Not sure if it is gluten-free or
not though. Good luck!
YUM! I’ve had the russets sitting here for 4 days. Just made the latkes. YUM YUM YUM!
I would like to try yours! When I make them, I get all the water out of the potatoes by putting them in my ricer. Raw potatoes won’t go through the holes but that thing has some SERIOUS leverage to squeeze the water out.
Good call! When I wrote this article, I didn't have a ricer, but I've acquired once since and I use it to extract water from spinach, so I can easily image it works well for this too.
The only Latkes I’ve ever had was at a Jewish deli in the suburbs of Cleveland, Oh. They are awesome. My wife and I had a hankering’ for latkes today, unlike the “potato pancakes” that my mom used to make, and driving 1+ hours each direction just didn’t sit well with us today.
I immediately searched for a recipe and found yours. My wife and I currently have full bellies. You know the food was excellent when you’re full up to your eyeballs and you still want to go back for more.
Thank you so much for the recipe. While the basic ingredients are not rocket science, the preparation tricks make all the difference in the world.
Rich – that makes my day that these are your first homemade latkes! So glad you liked them and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Thank you so much for bringing back a flood of wonderful childhood memories. I am making your recipe this evening with Christmas (we are a blended religious family)dinner. The meaning and tradition will not go unspoken. Christmas is an opportunity for us to gather as a family and show our love and appreciation for each other. God bless you and be with you and your family this holiday time and into the new year.
Michael, I just happened across your recipe via Swallowing Seattle and I heartily concur! Respect for the ingredients. No Crispy Pumpkin and Zucchini latkes for me either. I wrote a similar post about this (“My Father’s Latkes”) on my Calorie Factory blog. I also noted that squeezing the very last drop of water out of those potatoes was *critical* to making a latke so crispy and good you just want to. . .smack somebody (in a good way of course!) when you eat one.
http://taste.caloriefactory.com/2011/02/08/my-fathers-latkes/
OH MY GOODNESS – - you have no idea how happy I am you posted this recipe. When I was a lot younger, I had the best latkes ever and I’ve since tried endless times to copy the recipe. I’ve never come remotely close.
I think this recipe will be the one!!
Thanks.
I make mine without eggs. I just squeeze out the water well and incorporate the potato starch. They turn out great! I can’t wait to make them!
I am Catholic, but a good latke is hard to beat. I shred the potato, put into ice water for a while, wring dry and I mean dry. Onion, garlic, flour, kosher salt, small amt of pepper, egg or not, BUT staying white. I add LEMON JUICE to the water and do not worry about discoloration. The same with scalloped potatoes made ‘ready’ to go when desired. Dry the potato slices either on paper towels or cloth spread over slices then continue with recipe.