Making a great potato latke takes a little more skill than simply frying shredded potato in oil. Unless you know what you’re doing, it’s hard to get it right. There’s always a chance the outside will burn, the inside won’t cook enough and the entire pancake will ooze with oil.
Ask 10 people the best way to make latkes (potato pancakes) for Hanukkah and you’ll likely get 10 different answers.
I like to make them fresh so they are nice and crisp. I have not found one good latke recipe that can be made ahead so they are not soggy.
Latkes are traditional fare for Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights that begins at sundown Dec. 1. Many holiday foods such as latkes and donuts are fried in oil, a symbolic ingredient that represents the one-day’s supply of oil that burned for eight days and nights when Maccabees rededicated the temple in Jerusalem, taking it back after fighting Syrian soldiers.
I like to serve them as I make them.
This is the recipe I usually use. I found it in a cookbook I purchased as part of a fundraiser for my synagogue. You know what I am talking about. The type of cookbook where they ask you to submit your favorite recipes. I find they are the easiest and most reliable.
POTATO LATKES RECIPE
6 medium-size potatoes
1 onion
2 eggs lightly beaten
3 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Peel potatoes and onions. Grate by hand. Remove liquid. Add the remaining ingredients. Heat vegetable oil in a fairly large frying pan. Drop by the spoonful.
turn when brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with applesauce or sour cream.
Related articles
- Sweet Potato Pancake (charlotte.news14.com)
- Hanukkah here already this year (washingtontimes.com)
- A Good Appetite: Small Latkes, Large Toppings (nytimes.com)
