Kosher Blog

It’s nice to have a recipe backed by a trustworthy cook.

Btw, I’ve discovered a trick for preventing shredded potato from turning without going through the trouble of soaking it in water and then drying it out. Just grate (or puree) the onion first and then stir in the potatoes. The acid in the onion will prevent oxidation.

IIRC, the soaking and drying also helps decrease the batter’s sogginess.

Good to know.

Washing off the surface starch by the soak-dry-step will result in a latke that more potato-flavor, less glue-like texture. Of course, sometimes I have a hankering for the gummy, grated-potato latke. But the shred/wash really lets the potato-flavor shine.

I’d like to thank you, Jabbett, for the implicit invitation in this post to feed me some latkes. Much obliged :-)

Doh… didn’t change my pseudonym (the above is my message, but you probably already knew that)

I know this is a longshot, but… does anyone know a way to bake latkes (as an alternative to frying)?

I’m sure you can make them in the oven, just like schnitzel can be made in the oven.

Just wondering - why not extra virgin olive oil? (I am not a cooking-savvy person - so I really have no idea).

Thanks

Extra virgin olive oil is usually reserved for sauces and dressings — occasions when you want to take advantage of its strong, fruity flavor. If you fried with it, I think the oil’s taste would be overwhelming (and way to expensive to use in such quantity). As for why one should use olive oil over other kinds of oil, it’s certainly more germane to the holiday, and it’s nutritionally superior to most generic vegetable oils.

Great response, jabbett. EVOO is overused among today’s lay cooks because they see it on The Food Network but lack the depth of understanding of its usage, imo.

Regarding making latkes without deep frying - I have had great luck making latkes with very small amounts of oil (actually I use butter) on a non-stick pan and/or griddle. I use the Joy of Cooking potato pancake recipe. They don’t turn out all brown and crispy, they’re more like pancakes, but they’re good.

Thanks for the tip about oxidation & onions. I’m wondering, does anyone know, how long can you leave the batter sit once the onions are in? I’m trying to decide whether I can do the grating & drying ahead of time (earlier the same day).

Right on rebecca, that’s how we started preparing them at our bed and breakfast.

GP in Montana

Actually, the poster said, “as an alternative to frying,” not, “as an alternative to deep frying.”

Thanks for the recipe. I made them tonight for a belated Hanukkah party, and they came out great!

One thing, though. I’m not sure if I had enough onion. The concept of a “medium” onion is fairly subjective, and I’m not sure if I had enough. I like the idea of giving a weight to the quantity of potatoes (as opposed to a number of potatoes, like many other recipes give). Would it be possible to say how many ounces or pounds of onion should be bought at the grocery store?

Thanks,
David in South Florida

Jabbett said:
Extra virgin olive oil is usually reserved for sauces and dressings — occasions when you want to take advantage of its strong, fruity flavor. If you fried with it, I think the oil’s taste would be overwhelming (and way to expensive to use in such quantity)

EVOO is not recommended for frying (especially deep frying) because of its low smoke point. Refined olive oil is better. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily cheaper (at least according to America’s Test Kitchen).

I usually use canola oil for frying, but I like the idea of using olive oil on Chanukkah. Maybe next year I’ll buy some refined OO.

Late latke tip- if you grate the onions and add them to cold water along with the potatoes, you get a pleasant onion flavor that permeates the latkes but isn’t overbearing. Just pull handfuls of potato & onion as you need them , squeeze as dry as possible, mix with an egg and ample salt and matza meal, press into pancake shape and fry in hot oil.

I use the medium shred wheel most of the time, but the fine shredder makes really crispy latkes.

I have made latkes like this forever. I was teachimg my 10th grade class how to make crisp, WHITE latkes. And the old timer lady in the litchen thought I was nuts for peeling the taters and for soaking them in ice water. She tossed the whole potato and the rusult was clay brown colored batter ( not sure above about the onion thing as she put DID put onion in hers). GAG! Her latkes turned out lime green…gag. Ours…beautiful brown on the outside, white on the inside.

I saw Marth Stewart stole my ( and yours) recipe!

FYI..pet peeve on Latke cooking: DON”T press latkes to be flat…yuck…

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Thanks so much for putting this in writing. I married into my husbands family 9 years 10 months ago. We just moved out of state.so this year I’m incharge of making the latkes. I’m only allowed to get the recipe from my father in law after we’ve been married for 10 years. I’ve watched in on making them last year in December but wasn’t allowed to have the reciepe. this is exactly what I needed. I feel like I just cheated my father in law out of a sacred family secret

I don’t get it..what’s the big secret about your father-in-law’s latke’s? It’s not like he’s Toll House or Duncan Hines, for crying out loud.

Make these and let them think you stole the recipe!

You can raise the extra-virgin olive oil smoke point by adding garlic or onion to the oil while heating it, maintaining the health benefits while enjoying the flavor.

Still, EVOO has too much flavor, imo. XLOO is much better.

Just so that everyone is clear, deep frying in most cases is actually healthier than pan/shallow frying (aka what is basically the sautee method Rebecca advocates). Fact is, as long as you maintain a minimum heat of 350 degrees in your deep fryer, this actually causes a certain amount of the potato’s natural sucrose to be secreted and then bonded to the latke’s surface. This then ‘caramelizes’, creating the golden brown color and crispness we like so much, in addition to sealing the latke off from the absorption of oil.

Conversely, in order to pan fry a latke without burning it, you must do so at a much lower temperature. The end result is a drastically larger uptake of oil, and by extension fat and cholesterol.

All this business about fried food being bad for you is alot of bupkis. It only really applies if you’re talking about something unhealthy in the first place, like fried cheese sticks.