By Jim Hingst
Potato pancakes or latkes are not just for special occasions. They are also great as a breakfast side dish. During the Depression they were a popular and inexpensive meal. Here’s a recipe that my Polish grandmother would make for me when I was a young boy.
Ingredients
2
pounds russet potatoes (you can also use Yukon gold or baking potatoes)
NOTE: the
reason that russet potatoes are used is that the moisture content is lower and
the starch content is higher. Waxier potatoes with a higher moisture content
will not fry up as crispy.
1
medium onion
1
grated carrot (optional)
2
large eggs, beaten
1
tsp. salt
freshly
ground pepper
1/3
cup matzo meal (if you don’t have matzo meal you can substitute Panko bread
crumbs or all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon
baking powder
Neutral vegetable oil or Crisco for frying
Directions
In making latkes you can use russet potatoes with or without the skins. If you peel the potatoes and put them in ice cold water. Grate the potatoes, carrot and onions using a box grater. If you decide to grate the potatoes with the skins on make sure that you thoroughly wash the outer surface of your spuds.
The skin of the potato is a great source of vitamins B and C as well as other essential nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, manganese, copper and potassium. The skins also provide your diet with fiber.
In grating your potatoes, the grind or coarseness that you select is really a matter of personal preference. My grandmother preferred a finer grind. On the other hand, I prefer a coarser texture. For this reason, I use the coarse holes for the potatoes and the fine ones for the onion. Place the gratings in a bath of ice water as you are working to prevent the potatoes from oxidizing and turning brown. Soak the grated potatoes for ten minutes. See below.
When you are finished grating the potatoes and onion, transfer the mixture in a colander lined with cheesecloth. See the picture below.
Cover the grated mixture with another towel and allow the water to drain for a few minutes. Capture the drippings in a bowl underneath the colander. Wrapping the potato mixture with the cheesecloth, squeeze out any remaining water as best you can. See the photo below. Excess moisture in your mixture will prevent the latkes from crisping up properly so this step is critical.
You should save the ice water from grating’s bath and capture the strained liquid. Allow the potato starch in the water to settle to the bottom of the bowl. Drain off the liquid leaving the collected starch. You can add the potato starch into your grating’s mixture. The starch will act as an adherent to bind the other ingredients together so your latkes don’t fall apart.
Mix the potato and onion with the matzo meal (or AP flour) and baking powder. The baking powder will help make the exterior of latke crispy while the interior will be fluffier. Add the beaten egg, and salt and pepper. The egg acts as a binder for the batter. For a more fluid texture add an extra egg. For a stiffer texture or if the mixture is too runny, add some matzo meal or all-purpose flour to the batter. The desired consistency of the batter is a matter of personal preference.
In the frying pan heat the vegetable oil or Crisco (shortening) to 385⁰F. Crisco is great for frying and today’s formulation is free of trans fats so you don’t need to worry about your arteries clogging. Some traditionalists opt for using chicken or duck fat. Whatever you use, use enough oil or shortening to be deep enough to equal half the thickness of the pancake. Half an inch to an inch of oil should do the trick.
If your mixture is firm, you can form the latkes into balls with your hands and then flatten them out with the back of a spatula. If the batter is more fluid, use a ¼ measuring cup to ladle out the mixture.
Fry until golden brown on both sides. It usually takes 3 to 4 minutes on each side to fry the pancakes. Allow sufficient spacing between pancakes when frying to prevent them from getting soggy. Keep in mind that each time you add patties to your pan the temperature of the oil will drop. This increases the time that the pancakes need to cook in which the interior of the will can become more saturated with oil.
To facilitate turning the latkes use a fish spatula. The flexibility of this type of spatula makes flipping pancakes easier and makes splattering scalding hot oil less likely. If your latkes are small, you can also use tongs to flip them.
After your latkes are fried, you can place them on a platter lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Better yet use a wire rack over a cookie sheet to facilitate the draining of oil. See the photo below. Put the cookie sheet in an oven set at 200⁰F to keep the potato pancakes warm before serving. Serve the fried latkes with sour cream or applesauce or both.
If
you have leftovers, you can store them in your fridge for a few days. To reheat them, can refry the latkes in a
frying pan with a little oil until the internal temperature of the pancake is
165⁰F. Reheating in a microwave however is not recommended. You can also reheat
the latkes in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350⁰F. Place the leftover latkes
on a cookie sheet and heat for 10 minutes. Flip the pancakes and reheat for
another 10 minutes.
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