Potato Latkes

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esavitzky
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Potato Latkes

Chef,

Here is the potato latke recipe I promised to go with your Asian Fusion Chicken Soup.

This is basically my grandmother's recipe, probably handed down from previous generations.  So simple, even I can make it, although I did apprentice under my grandmother and grandfather.  My grandfather was always responsible for grating the potatoes and the onions, which later became my uncle's responsibility.  The key to this recipe is to use a fairly wide-holed grater.  I have one at my home in Boston, but I forgot to bring it up with me to ME this weekend.  It looks like a flat rectangular grid of squares, each about 1/4 inch square.  It creates a terrific texture that can't be recreated by using a regular hand grater and certainly not by a food processor.  This is fairly labor intensive, which is always why the strong men in the family were delegated the task of doing the grating.  Just have to be careful to watch out for knuckle shavings in the batter wink.

The potatoes will oxidize once grated, but I think there is little you can do about this and it doesn't affect the taste at all.

The following recipe will make about 18-20 latkes, but the thing about this recipe (as with all of my grandmother's recipes)  is that measurements were always intuitive and never written down.  May take some trial and error to get it right, but in the end, it all tastes great.

I started with 4 large baking potatoes.  As you can see, the regular hand grater creates pieces that are "way too uniform".  You can also see that the potatoes are already starting to oxidize a pinkish-brown color.

Next, grate a large yellow onion the same way and add to the potato gratings:

Notice all the liquid that has formed from both the potatoes and the onions.  Need to squeeze this liquid out of the mixture or the batter will be too moist.

Next, add two beaten eggs and Matzo Meal.  The Matzo Meal is used to bind the batter together so you can form patties before frying.  You should be able to find it in most supermarkets in the Kosher section....well maybe not in Truckee, CA, but if you cant find any let me know and I'll send you a container.  There is no real substitute for Matzo Meal in taste (pretty tasteless) or texture.

You need to mix the potatoes, onions, eggs and Matzo Meal with your hands, feeling the texture of the batter coming together.  In all, I probably added about a cup of Matzo Meal to the batter in order to get it thick enough to form patties, but the amount you will need will depend on the amount of liquid produced from the grated potatoes and onions.  Add the Matzo Meal slowly till it gets to the point where you can form patties, but make sure you don't add too much so that it becomes like cement.  Season with salt and pepper, but it will be pretty hard to tell at this point.  I think I added somewhere between 1 - 2 tbl of Kosher salt.  You can always salt them when they are done.

Add oil to a large pan.  I used canola oil at about 1/4 inch depth, but I suppose you could use most any oil (vegetable, corn, etc.) except olive oil which would overpower the taste.  I used my 13 in braising pan, but any pan would do.  Just make sure the pancakes will fry evenly at about 325 - 350 degrees F.  The bigger the pan, the more you can make at one time.  Turn them when they get golden brown on the first side.  Remove to a plate with paper towels that will soak up the oil when done on both sides.

Serve with apple sauce.  I know  lot of people prefer sour cream, but my grandmother never served them with sour cream so I never acquired the taste for them with sour cream.

And there is little value in waiting for all batches to be done before starting to eat them.  They never last in my household.  Oh, and by the way, there is absolutely nothing healthy about these, which is why I only make them once a year. cheeky

Elliot