In honor of the 6th night of Hanukkah, I wanted to share my recipe for fool proof potato latkes. I make them every year, and they ALWAYS come out perfect! This recipe only uses 2 big russet potatoes, but it makes about 20 latkes that are a couple of inches big. I like my latkes to be medium sized, and usually make them to be about the size of the bottom of a glass. From my years of latke making, I’ve come to figure out that for each large russet potato you use, you will get about 10 medium sized latkes. Honestly, you can make them whatever size you like, but this is how I’ve been doing it. Serve these with sour cream (or sub in Greek yogurt like I do) and apple sauce for the perfect traditional Hanukkah feast!
Ingredients:
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp kosher salt + more for sprinkling
- 1 tsp chopped parsley
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- Enough canola oil to fill 1-2 inches of a heavy bottomed pan
Start of by grating the potatoes. Don’t even worry about peeling them because the skin will add texture. Just make sure you rinse them well to get the dirt off. Once the potatoes are all grated, transfer the potato shavings to a large kitchen towel and ring them out. You want to squeeze as much of the water out of the potatoes as possible so you get a crisp texture and the latkes don’t get soggy from excess water. Transfer the squeezed out potatoes to a large bowl and set aside. Next, grate the onion, and make sure you squeeze that out too. This might actually be one of the most important parts of making latkes. Squeezing the potatoes out is important, but each year I am continually amazed at just how much water I squeeze out of the onion. Onions are mostly water, so if you don’t squeeze them out after grating, you’ll be in big trouble in the latke department.
Add the onions to the bowl with the potatoes and add the salt and parsley, mixing to thoroughly combine all of the ingredients. Next add in the eggs and mix well. You want to make sure everything is mixed and coated properly so all of your latkes come out the same. In a small bowl, mix the flour and baking powder so it can get evenly distributed throughout the potato mixture. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine. You want everything to be mixed well and fully combined, but do not over mix. Once you see that it is a cohesive mixture, stop mixing.
Next you’ll want to heat up your oil. Place 1-2 inches of oil in a heavy bottom or cast iron skillet. I absolutely love my cast iron, so this is what I use. This is a shallow fry, you you don’t want the latkes to be completely submerged in oil. Using a thermometer, heat your oil to 350 degrees. This is very important, because not heating the oil enough will cause the latkes to get soggy and greasy, and heating it too high will burn the outside without cooking the inside.
While your oil is heating up, go through your house and close all of the bedroom doors, and open up some windows around the kitchen/living room area. Trust me, you’ll thank me later for telling you to do this! While the oil is heating up, you’ll also want to set up your post-fry station. Set a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet near your pot of oil. When the latkes are done, set them on the rack to cool while staying crisp.
Once your oil is hot, start frying your latkes! I use about 2 tablespoons of batter per latke, and fit 4-5 latkes per pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side until the latkes are golden brown. Once they are done, set them on the cooling rack, and while they are still hot, sprinkle with some kosher salt. You can always make these ahead of time and keep them in a 200 degree oven to stay warm. That way you won’t have to be frying stuff when your guests come.
NOTE: I suggest getting the oil out of your house as quickly as possible to reduce the smell. You can either let the pan of oil cool outside on your deck until the oil is cool enough to transfer to a jar or can and throw away, or if you live in a complex with a dumpster, you can do what I did and just bring the pan outside and dump the oil into the dumpster. The sooner you get the oil out of your kitchen, the sooner your home will stop smelling like fried food. I also recommend lighting a candle to help.
So there you go, fool proof potato latkes! I hope you all have a wonderful Hanukkah, and enjoy many latkes and laughs throughout the festival of lights!