Turning Out Latkes You’ll Love
For crisp, delicious potato pancakes Fox News’s Lilian Huang Woo turns to the founder of the annual Latke Fest at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Author and CEO of Great Performances Liz Neumark shares tips for perfect Latkes for Hanukkah or any time.
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Traditional Potato Latke Recipe:
(From Sylvia’s Table)
Ingredients For the Latkes:
1 medium Onion, chopped
4 Russet Potatoes, peeled and shredded by hand or food processor
3 tbsp Flour or Potato Starch
3 Eggs
Salt and Pepper
Ingredients For the Toppings:
Applesauce (store-bought or homemade) or Sour Cream
Directions:
1. Sauté the onion in about 2 tbsp of olive oil till soft but not browned. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix the grated potatoes, onions, flour and eggs together in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Then turn them into a colander set over a large bowl. Drape a damp dishcloth over the colander. When it seems that very little liquid is draining off the potatoes, after about 15 minutes, carefully pour off the water leaving the starch that has collected at the bottom of the bowl. Mix the starch back into the potatoes – this will help hold the latkes together as they cook.
3. Place a large skillet over a medium heat and pour in equal amounts of olive and canola oil to a depth of about 1 inch. The oil is hot enough when a tiny bit of the latke mixture sizzles when you drop it in.
4. I make small latkes, 3-4 inches across, scooping up a large tablespoon of batter into my palm and flattening it out before sliding it into the pan. The edges of the latke are very ragged and make me think of multi-clawed crabs! It takes only a few minutes for the latkes to brown. Then I gently flip them. As they come out of the pan, I move them onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
Guideline for Yield: One potato will make about 2-3 latkes. One person will eat 3 latkes, depending on the size.
