How To Make Crispy, Delicious Latkes (Jewish Potato Pancakes, Traditional for Hanukkah) – Recipe
Now that’s a crispy latke!
[Note: this recipe received a major update on 12/16/2012 – so if you have followed it before, you can look forward to even crispier latkes going forward! Among other changes, I no longer use any flour or added starch, so this is now gluten-free. I was finding that the flour made them a bit gummy, Chris Young suggested I try entirely without. Quite right, they are better than ever.]
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, and salt 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. 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. First I like to pre-salt them and let them rest a bit. Then to get the water out, you can 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. An even better way, if you have one, is to use a heavy-duty potato ricer to squeeze out the water.
I generally use the grating disc on the food processor to cut the potatoes, 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. You can also crush an unflavored vitamin C tablet and mix it in with the potatoes as an anti-oxidant.
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.
A note about Kosher salt: I always use Diamond Crystal brand. It is “fluffier” and therefore weighs less by volume than Mortons. The best option is always to measure by weight, but if you are going by volume and not using Diamond Crystal, reduce all amounts by around 40%.
Crispy, Delicious Latkes for Hanukkah
Vegetarian and gluten-free
Multiply as needed to use 450 grams / 1 pound potato per person as a main course or half that as an appetizer (unimaginable, but just in case)
- 450 grams (1 pound Russet potato), peeled and held in water until ready to grate
- 115 grams (1/4 pound onion), preferably white but yellow is ok, peeled
- Vitamin-C tablets (optional)
- Kosher salt
- 1 egg (60 grams), beaten
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying (lots)
- Maldon salt or fleur de sel
- In a food processor or on a box grater, grate the potato and onion and mix together. Mix in 5 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) of kosher salt for every 450 grams of potato you started with, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes. If you want to keep the potatoes a nice white color, crush one 500 mg plain unflavored vitamin C tablet for every 4 pounds of potato and toss it in with the salt.
- Uncover, squeeze down a bit and drain off excess water from the bowl. Now, working a handful or two at a time, either use a potato ricer to squeeze out the water, or wrap the potatoes 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.
- Mix in the eggs, and pepper and another 1.75 grams (1/2 teaspoon of salt) (since much of the original salt will have washed away). I find the best way to do this is with my hands.
- 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. Don’t be stingy with the oil – they are going to absorb the same amount anyhow, but if you use less they won’t come out properly crispy.
- 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. Lately I’ve found that using tongs to transfer the potatoes to the skillet works really well, I’m less tempted to make them too big.
- 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 of the Maldon salt or fleur de sel.
- 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.
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 :).
Great latkes! Even my grandmother and dad would approve. That is hard to do.
Thanks.
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.
I followed this recipe to a ‘t’ and….fabulous. Instruction #8 was a tough one!
That one gets me every time!
Too salty; I scaled it up to 6 potatoes with 6-7 teaspoons salt, but still too salty so i added more flour.
I think 4 teaspoons is perfect.
Hey Nathan – One issue, which I need to be better about indicating, is that I use Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt, which weighs less (and is therefore less salty) per teaspoon than Morton’s or typical iodized salt. And of course always follow your own palate.
why do you use flour instead of matzo meal?
I don’t typically have matzo meal in the house except at Passover time… if you have it on hand, it will work just fine.
A friend of mine will be alone this year as her parents will be out of town. She adores latkes and what better present than to share this coming Hanukkah with her favorite latkes and applesauce.
Thank you so much, Michael! These sound delicious! I got 4 days to get it right … lol
I’ll let you know!
Jewish food is the BEST! (says the ex-Catholic! 🙂 ) My English Mum used to pass these off as “potato pancakes” but they were still delicious. Happy Chanukah!
These were delicious! I too am an old-school latke lover. Sure, I’ll try a sweet potato maple pancake, but I probably won’t go through the patzke of making them on chanukah. Your recipe hit the spot, and the additional squeezing is the tip I was missing all of these years.
I have made these with flour for my husband and used gluten free flour for my daughter. Both times they have turned out awesome! I don’t use the salt amount listed,I use less and coconut oil to fry them in. I would recommend a ricer to get as much water out as you can. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I use the ricer these days too. Works great. I’m planning on experimenting with potato starch instead of flour this week, will update the recipe if it works well.
Made them, loved them, will definitely make again.
This is exactly how I make latkes, and I have been making them more years than I care to say. I stand at the stove while the family decides who gets the next batch out of the pan.
My Jewish Mother would fry Potato Pancakes until we were all full. I would
look forward to eating them but after I got my fill I could wait until the next
time. We didn’t use Sour Cream or Apple Sauce, just the Pancakes. I make
them now, they taste good but I think they tasted better when I was a child.
One day on a cooking show on TV they had a hint about making Pancakes.
They said if you use a Plastic Grater the Potatoes would not turn black as
quickly when using a Aluminum Grater. I tried it and it works, I wanted to
call my Mother and tell her but sadly she had died years ago.
Thank you for posting a potato latke recipe without flour. My family tradition has never used flour and they come out just fine, in fact way better than just fine. Your recipe is similar to how I make latkes, though I don’t use a recipe, I just make them. We had some tonight, and will have more before Chanukah is over this year.
I have an addition to your recipe. I add a teaspoon of baking powder to each 2 cups of grated potatoes after they have been squeezed dry. Guarantees crispness.