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Pure Potato Latkes
Joan Nathan, Nathaniel Wade
3034 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,034
1 1/4 hours, plus cooling and chilling
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Using a food processor with a coarse grating disc, grate potato and shallot. Transfer mixture to a clean dish towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Working quickly, transfer mixture to a large bowl. Toss in flour, egg, salt, baking powder and pepper until combined.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high, then pour in about ¼ inch of schmaltz. Once schmaltz is hot, drop heaping ¼ cup measures of batter into pan. Use a spatula to flatten the drops into discs. When edges of latkes are crispy, in 5 to 7 minutes, flip them. Cook until second side is golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes more. If latkes get too brown before they are cooked through, lower the heat. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve latkes topped with sour cream and applesauce, if you like. Garnish with gribenes if you have them.
Matzo meal is the only thickener to be used in latkes. Not flour. Not crumbs. Where were you people raised?
PART TWO:
When you are finished wringing out all the potatoes, there will be liquid (potato water) in the bottom of the bowl. VERY CAREFULLY, pour off the liquid and discard. The thicker paste remaining in the bottom of the bowl is pure potato starch. Add this to the mixing bowl with the potatoes. Great as a binder, worth the extra effort.
Flour? NEVER. Only matzoh meal will do.
I'm going to use duck fat and olive oil. This recipe would require a miracle - one potato for 8-9 latkes, 3-4 servings.
If you want them super crispy but don't want to spend the entire meal frying, cook them ahead and freeze in Ziplocs. Then bake them on baking sheet at 450 for 20 minutes just before serving. Works great!
TWO-PART POST
All right, people. Here's the starch scoop, straight from my Jewish grandmother:
Put one big handful of grated potatoes at a time on a moistened dishcloth and twist the cloth to enclose the potatoes. Wring out the dishcloth with the potatoes in it over a bowl. DO NOT JOSTLE THE BOWL. Put the wrung out potatoes in a big mixing bowl.
Judy, you can reduce the starch by grating the potatoes into a bowl of cold water. Let them soak a while, then drain the water, pressing out the liquid. Then do the rest of your mixing in that bowl. And per Trilby's comment: Matzo meal, not bread crumbs or flour, and as a binder, not for crispness. Probably your mother's latkes weren't crispy because she didn't use enough oil (or per this recipe, schmaltz), and didn't keep the oil hot enough.
Are you saying that one 10oz potato is going to make 8-9 latkes? Are these the size of a quarter? I like the recipe in general, but there's some strategic information left out. What's the recipe for 8 people who love latkes - the size we all see in pictures - and can eat 4 or 5?
Have made a similar recipe and have found a tablespoon or two of schmaltz, added to a neutral oil like canola for frying gives great flavor.
The discoloration of grated potatoes is rapid and alarming but after frying you won't be able to tell. Worked great as described even though I forgot the baking powder.
Well, my dad cooks his matzo brei in bacon fat, so I totally hear you!
Don't forget to let the potato juice to set and allow the starch to separate. Pour off the water and re-add the starch to the potatoes, being sure to mix the starch in well.
Great recipe! I swapped shallots for onions to keep it classic, but it tasted great and stayed together in the pan which is usually my critique with other recipes that use breadcrumbs etc. I added an extra egg for this reason as well.
We have Latkes regularly for breakfast. I use unpeeled potatoes (usually huckleberry gold; others work). NO thickener at all add a tiny bit of cream of tartar which keeps the potatoes from going dark. Put the grated potatoes on a colander lined with cloth and squeeze as much water out as possible. Fry immediately
Most unusually (for my kitchen) I was out of schmaltz, but was able to purchase duck fat for this recipe. It doesn't have the flavor of home-rendered schmaltz, but it did give a very, very crisp result. I tripled the recipe and got 33 latkes. I found 1/4 cup was too big--I ended up squeezing a small handful of potato mix and laying it in the hot oil. I'm feeding 6 on my 33 latkes, and I think it will JUST be enough. (So yes, I think Melissa's servings are "aspirational.")
Delicious. Mine seemed slightly salty. I would reduce the salt next time.
How about making these ahead of time? Frying while guests are waiting is not such a great entertaining MO. Surely they can he heated the day of?
I would agree that schmaltz makes whatever it touches wonderful, but having been taught to make latkes by my Ashkenazi immigrant nana, I’m sure they were never prepared that way in “the old country.” Traditionally served with sour cream - yes - and this would have made them non kosher because every latke I ever ate was served with sour cream as part of a dairy meal.
Does anyone have recommended method of reheating these potato pancakes once they are cold?
Reheat in your oven or toaster oven on a rack - 350 until you can smell their deliciousness.
Have made a similar recipe and have found a tablespoon or two of schmaltz, added to a neutral oil like canola for frying gives great flavor.
One, even large, russet potato, to produce latkes for 8-9 people? You've got to be kidding. Suggest you try the recipe again yourself.
Are you saying that one 10oz potato is going to make 8-9 latkes? Are these the size of a quarter? I like the recipe in general, but there's some strategic information left out. What's the recipe for 8 people who love latkes - the size we all see in pictures - and can eat 4 or 5?
The discoloration of grated potatoes is rapid and alarming but after frying you won't be able to tell. Worked great as described even though I forgot the baking powder.
If you want them super crispy but don't want to spend the entire meal frying, cook them ahead and freeze in Ziplocs. Then bake them on baking sheet at 450 for 20 minutes just before serving. Works great!
PART TWO:
When you are finished wringing out all the potatoes, there will be liquid (potato water) in the bottom of the bowl. VERY CAREFULLY, pour off the liquid and discard. The thicker paste remaining in the bottom of the bowl is pure potato starch. Add this to the mixing bowl with the potatoes. Great as a binder, worth the extra effort.
Flour? NEVER. Only matzoh meal will do.
TWO-PART POST
All right, people. Here's the starch scoop, straight from my Jewish grandmother:
Put one big handful of grated potatoes at a time on a moistened dishcloth and twist the cloth to enclose the potatoes. Wring out the dishcloth with the potatoes in it over a bowl. DO NOT JOSTLE THE BOWL. Put the wrung out potatoes in a big mixing bowl.
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