Traditionally served at Hanukkah, these potato pancakes can be enjoyed year-round. They are traditionally served with apple sauce or sour cream. As a kid, I would eat them sprinkled with sugar.
Course Potatoes, Side Dish
Ingredients
2 ½lbsrusset potatoes, peeled and kept in cold water until needed
1mediumonion, peeled
2largeeggs
2-3tablespoonspotato flour, matzo meal, or flour
1tablespoonsalt
1teaspoonwhite pepper (optional)
corn or canola oil for frying
Instructions
A food processor makes easy work of grating the potatoes and onion. If you do not have one, a box grater and some elbow grease work well. Grate potatoes and onion and place in a strainer. You can leave the mixture as is and move on to step two, or you can puree 1/3 of the onion potato mixture. Pureeing a portion of the mixture creates a great texture for the latkes. If using, add the pureed portion back to the shredded portion and continue with step two.
Place the potato-onion mixture in the center of a clean kitchen towel or large piece of cheesecloth. Squeeze the mixture and press out as much liquid as possible.
Place potato/onion mixture into a dry bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients.
Heat ¼ inch of oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Use your hands to shape ¼ cup of batter into a pancake shape and place gently into the hot oil. If you opted to puree some and are having trouble shaping the pancakes, you can gently drop ¼ cup of the batter directly into the hot oil. Remember to leave enough space to be able to flip them over.
Cook until golden brown on the bottom (approx 3 minutes), then flip over and press down with the back of the spatula.
Cook for another 3 minutes until golden on the second side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. See note below on keeping warm while you make more and on how to freeze for later.
Serve with sour cream or applesauce, or even sprinkled with sugar.
Notes
If you are making for a large group (or your family eats these like they have not been fed for a week), you can place them in a 200 °F oven to stay warm while you fry up the remaining latkes. These also freeze and reheat really well. Place in a single layer, not touching to freeze. You can place several layers with parchment in between on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen solid, transfer to a freezer-safe bag. When you want some, pull out how many you want and heat at 400 °F until warmed through and crispy. Use potato flour if you are Gluten-free.