Mmm latkes. I hope.
December 10, 2011 10:11 AM Subscribe
I'm committed to making latkes for a holiday party tomorrow. Seeking best recipes, tips, tricks and beginner level hacks. Never made them before, and out of time to make a practice batch. Please hope me!
I have a friend who makes The Best Latkes. She uses potato starch instead of flour, and says her magic secret is to use peanut oil for the frying. It has a really high smoke point, so you can cook them at a higher heat which keeps them crispier.
posted by KathrynT at 10:24 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by KathrynT at 10:24 AM on December 10, 2011
Do you have a Trader JOe's near you? 'Cause they have great frozen latkes. I'm just saying. (And I'm jewish.) Don't forget the applesauce!
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:26 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:26 AM on December 10, 2011
Get all the water out of the potatoes!
posted by raccoon409 at 10:29 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by raccoon409 at 10:29 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm a horrible cook but even I can do latkes. A food processor with the grating blade makes the process much faster.
In case it isn't obvious, never ever ever use the latke mix from a box. It's awful.
posted by miyabo at 10:42 AM on December 10, 2011
In case it isn't obvious, never ever ever use the latke mix from a box. It's awful.
posted by miyabo at 10:42 AM on December 10, 2011
You can omit the flour entirely if you have gluten-sensitive friends - potato starch would be a good substitute, but you can just skip it, too, and they work fine.
It's totally worth trying a batch with sweet potatoes, too - same exact process, different flavor. Yum!
posted by restless_nomad at 10:44 AM on December 10, 2011
It's totally worth trying a batch with sweet potatoes, too - same exact process, different flavor. Yum!
posted by restless_nomad at 10:44 AM on December 10, 2011
Here is the recipe from my grandmother, who wasn't Jewish but worked as a cook in a kosher restaurant for while. They are the best latkes I've ever had but they are a pain in the ass to make and they are best literally right from the pan. Even a few minutes' hold time before serving makes a difference.
Serves 4
7 medium baking potatoes (russet, Idaho)
4 eggs
1 small onion, grated
2.5 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)
Oil for frying
Sour cream for serving, or applesauce if you insist
Peel potatoes then grate using the side of a box grater that looks like somebody punched nails through sheet metals. You want a coarse puree, not shreds. A food processor won't give you the right texture, and hand-grating takes longer than you think.
Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can let the puree drain in a cheesecloth-lined strainer first, but that's not sufficient. You gotta squeeze it, hard. The potatoes should clump together and crumble, like a handful of rich garden soil.
Grate the onion on the same grater and add it to the potatoes. Culinary tear gas, but you want a puree, not even a mince.
Stir in the flour, then the rest of the ingredients.
Pour oil to a depth of 1/4" into a big frying pan. Yes, that much oil.
Heat over medium heat to the point where a dollop of potato mixture sizzles gently. (An electric skillet set to medium (about 350° F) is a huge help for temperature control, if you have one.)
Drop large spoonfuls of potato mixture into hot oil, and flatten with a spoon.
Cook until golden, then flip over and cook the other side until golden.
Drain on paper towels and serve INSTANTLY. For best results have your friends lined up at the stove, plates in hand. Note that eating latkes will be asynchronous, since people will have to wait for each batch to come out of the frying pan.
If sociability is more important than the ultimate transcendent experience of latke bliss, put some plates in a warm oven and keep the latkes warm until they're all cooked.
I think sour cream is the best accompaniment, but some people like applesauce. You want a good Jewish/Russian/New York-style sour cream like Breakstone's (from Kraft). Full fat, tangy, thick - save the healthier options for other occasions. This is supposed to be a once-a-year indulgence, so live it up!
posted by Quietgal at 10:50 AM on December 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
Serves 4
7 medium baking potatoes (russet, Idaho)
4 eggs
1 small onion, grated
2.5 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)
Oil for frying
Sour cream for serving, or applesauce if you insist
Peel potatoes then grate using the side of a box grater that looks like somebody punched nails through sheet metals. You want a coarse puree, not shreds. A food processor won't give you the right texture, and hand-grating takes longer than you think.
Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can let the puree drain in a cheesecloth-lined strainer first, but that's not sufficient. You gotta squeeze it, hard. The potatoes should clump together and crumble, like a handful of rich garden soil.
Grate the onion on the same grater and add it to the potatoes. Culinary tear gas, but you want a puree, not even a mince.
Stir in the flour, then the rest of the ingredients.
Pour oil to a depth of 1/4" into a big frying pan. Yes, that much oil.
Heat over medium heat to the point where a dollop of potato mixture sizzles gently. (An electric skillet set to medium (about 350° F) is a huge help for temperature control, if you have one.)
Drop large spoonfuls of potato mixture into hot oil, and flatten with a spoon.
Cook until golden, then flip over and cook the other side until golden.
Drain on paper towels and serve INSTANTLY. For best results have your friends lined up at the stove, plates in hand. Note that eating latkes will be asynchronous, since people will have to wait for each batch to come out of the frying pan.
If sociability is more important than the ultimate transcendent experience of latke bliss, put some plates in a warm oven and keep the latkes warm until they're all cooked.
I think sour cream is the best accompaniment, but some people like applesauce. You want a good Jewish/Russian/New York-style sour cream like Breakstone's (from Kraft). Full fat, tangy, thick - save the healthier options for other occasions. This is supposed to be a once-a-year indulgence, so live it up!
posted by Quietgal at 10:50 AM on December 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
My mom says that it's best to scrub, not peel, the potatoes. Can't tell you why. But I've never had a complaint! (And it saves you some time.)
posted by juniperesque at 10:51 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by juniperesque at 10:51 AM on December 10, 2011
I use the bagged shredded potatoes (hash browns) that you find refrigerated with the fresh eggs. Saves the hassle of peeling and shredding and getting the water out. It's a messy enough process as it is (but worth it).
posted by cecic at 11:07 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cecic at 11:07 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
There is but one latke to rule them all. You will absolutely not be disappointed.
posted by yellowcandy at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by yellowcandy at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
Drain on paper towels and serve INSTANTLY
I will second this. The only way to serve latkes is straight from the pan. If you were planning to make a batch at home and bring them, you may need to rethink this - they will not be very good no matter what recipe you use.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:24 AM on December 10, 2011
I will second this. The only way to serve latkes is straight from the pan. If you were planning to make a batch at home and bring them, you may need to rethink this - they will not be very good no matter what recipe you use.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:24 AM on December 10, 2011
Criminy, I'm writing this on Shabbat. Anyway.
1. The oil must be both deep and hot. Olive oil is both too expensive and has too low a smoke point. A wok is ideal. How to tell if it is the right temperature? Do a test latke. It should start bubbling the instant you put it in. Then crank it up a little bit. If they start to get too brown, turn it back down. You will find that the ones at the end of the batch are better. This is because your oil is finally at the right temp. Have a slotted spoon to scoop out the burned bits (and the latkes).
2. I get the best results by dropping the potato mixture in by large spoonfuls. They will sink to the bottom, bubbling immediately. Then they will suddenly rise to the top and finish cooking. This produces a non-greasy baby latke perfect for a cocktail party. This will get a surprised reaction from people who are used to large, flat latkes underdone in the middle. But, really, not joking here, anyone who really cares about latke shape will be making/getting their own elsewhere. Small is an easy way for an amateur not to have them raw in the middle and ALSO burnt. Mix up your potatoes, get, say, a small serving spoon or bohemian-type large soup spoon, scoop, and drop, as with drop cookies. Rave reviews will follow.
3. Paper sacks are best to drain them. Second is office paper towels, you know, brown, followed by newspaper, then regular household paper towels. Change the draining medium as often as you can.
4. Though this hint seems to contradict everything that others are saying about dry, it doesn't. You can grate all of your potatoes TONIGHT (in the Cuisinart, if possible). Peeling them is a waste of time and will definitely go unnoticed amid all the frying. Remember, in Europe they had nothing to eat, anyway. Grate everything and immediately dump into a large bowl of water. Put a plate on top to make sure everything is submerged. Refrigerate overnight. All the starch will turn the water, but not the potatoes, black. When you're ready to cook, dump the water out, rinse, and press dry. The cheapest available potato is fine.
5. Mix up the potatoes with some eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper, and (optional) onion. Flour or potato starch is fine if you do not have matzo meal, but it will give them more of a tempura texture, which is, again, a nice change. If you have no energy to chop onion, dried onion flakes or onion powder is fine. NO ONE will notice because it's all fried. The net texture should be similar to a drop biscuit. If you add too many eggs, just add more matzo meal.
6. You can do this exact thing with sweet potatoes. They just take a little longer to cook.
7. In re: serving instantly, all my early latkes were made in an electric frying pan at school. Delicious! You will be very popular.
posted by skbw at 11:27 AM on December 10, 2011
1. The oil must be both deep and hot. Olive oil is both too expensive and has too low a smoke point. A wok is ideal. How to tell if it is the right temperature? Do a test latke. It should start bubbling the instant you put it in. Then crank it up a little bit. If they start to get too brown, turn it back down. You will find that the ones at the end of the batch are better. This is because your oil is finally at the right temp. Have a slotted spoon to scoop out the burned bits (and the latkes).
2. I get the best results by dropping the potato mixture in by large spoonfuls. They will sink to the bottom, bubbling immediately. Then they will suddenly rise to the top and finish cooking. This produces a non-greasy baby latke perfect for a cocktail party. This will get a surprised reaction from people who are used to large, flat latkes underdone in the middle. But, really, not joking here, anyone who really cares about latke shape will be making/getting their own elsewhere. Small is an easy way for an amateur not to have them raw in the middle and ALSO burnt. Mix up your potatoes, get, say, a small serving spoon or bohemian-type large soup spoon, scoop, and drop, as with drop cookies. Rave reviews will follow.
3. Paper sacks are best to drain them. Second is office paper towels, you know, brown, followed by newspaper, then regular household paper towels. Change the draining medium as often as you can.
4. Though this hint seems to contradict everything that others are saying about dry, it doesn't. You can grate all of your potatoes TONIGHT (in the Cuisinart, if possible). Peeling them is a waste of time and will definitely go unnoticed amid all the frying. Remember, in Europe they had nothing to eat, anyway. Grate everything and immediately dump into a large bowl of water. Put a plate on top to make sure everything is submerged. Refrigerate overnight. All the starch will turn the water, but not the potatoes, black. When you're ready to cook, dump the water out, rinse, and press dry. The cheapest available potato is fine.
5. Mix up the potatoes with some eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper, and (optional) onion. Flour or potato starch is fine if you do not have matzo meal, but it will give them more of a tempura texture, which is, again, a nice change. If you have no energy to chop onion, dried onion flakes or onion powder is fine. NO ONE will notice because it's all fried. The net texture should be similar to a drop biscuit. If you add too many eggs, just add more matzo meal.
6. You can do this exact thing with sweet potatoes. They just take a little longer to cook.
7. In re: serving instantly, all my early latkes were made in an electric frying pan at school. Delicious! You will be very popular.
posted by skbw at 11:27 AM on December 10, 2011
Historical note: apparently in greater Vilna (Belarus/Poland/Lithuania), latkes were a Chanukah food, but a Chanukah breakfast food only, unseen at other times of day. Similar to French toast on Christmas morning.
posted by skbw at 11:33 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by skbw at 11:33 AM on December 10, 2011
Response by poster: Mmm... I'm salivating already! I will have to transport to the party, but I am a few minutes walk away so I can always duck out before dinner, quickly fry 'em up and run back. I like skbw's suggestion of baby latkes, I think the small size might also help grossification in transit. Keep the answers coming!
posted by yellowbinder at 12:15 PM on December 10, 2011
posted by yellowbinder at 12:15 PM on December 10, 2011
Absolutely. I think small is the only way to go if you do have to move them. They can use the transit time to drain more. Have a warm oven ready at the place they'll be eaten and no one will care that they're not right out of the pan.
If you want to go a little bit wild on the condiments, beyond applesauce and sour cream, you can go for Mexican-style sour cream and/or chutney. Don't do anything to the latke recipe itself, though, except perhaps sweet potatoes, or people will get mad.
posted by skbw at 12:21 PM on December 10, 2011
If you want to go a little bit wild on the condiments, beyond applesauce and sour cream, you can go for Mexican-style sour cream and/or chutney. Don't do anything to the latke recipe itself, though, except perhaps sweet potatoes, or people will get mad.
posted by skbw at 12:21 PM on December 10, 2011
But the frying is not quick. You might be better off doing it before the party and bringing them over then, else you will be gone for 1.25 hours while all the action is happening.
posted by skbw at 12:24 PM on December 10, 2011
posted by skbw at 12:24 PM on December 10, 2011
be sure to use use baking potatoes, not smooth, waxy potatoes. you need the starch in russets to make the edges crispy.
posted by elizeh at 12:32 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by elizeh at 12:32 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think you'd be best off frying them ahead of time. Then preheat the oven and go to the party (if you don't feel that's a fire risk!). When you get back, put the latkes in the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat back up. Then transport to the party.
posted by hazyjane at 12:40 PM on December 10, 2011
posted by hazyjane at 12:40 PM on December 10, 2011
For 10-12 people you want minimum 5 lbs. potatoes, probably more like 10 lbs.. I just made mashed potatoes for 10 adults and 7 lbs. had no one hungry but also no leftovers.
Or, if the ducking out idea is what works for you, AND you want to serve them with dinner, not as an hors d'oeuvre, you could do them en masse:
1. Do store the potatoes in water before, per my instructions, along with pre-chopped onions if desired.
2. Have the eggs, matzo meal, S&P, (and dried onion, if needed) close at hand.
3. Get ready 2-4 deep pans of oil, according to how many pans you have or can borrow. With a good lid you can actually prepare them beforehand and leave them on the stove--the oil is stored at room temp., anyway.
4. Have in mind what you will use to drain them--maybe baking pans or Tupperware lined with newspaper, paper towels, or what have you, the same thing that you will transport them in.
5. When you duck back in to do some frying, start by turning on the fire under all pans as soon as you get home. Keep the lids (or foil) on the pans to speed the heating of the oil!
6. While the oil is heating, mix up the latkes themselves and prepare the draining apparatus.
7. When the oil is ready (test latke should bubble on contact), load all the pans. Watch out for the pans on the smaller burners! They will take longer to heat.
8. In this way, with the pans of an average household holding 6-9 baby latkes per pan, you should be able to do 24-36 little ones at a time. This gets the ducking out down to a reasonable level. With a nice saute pan with straight sides, you can do up to 12 per pan. If you have a heavy roasting pan or similar, you can also use that.
Be'teavon! Bon appétit!
posted by skbw at 12:45 PM on December 10, 2011
Or, if the ducking out idea is what works for you, AND you want to serve them with dinner, not as an hors d'oeuvre, you could do them en masse:
1. Do store the potatoes in water before, per my instructions, along with pre-chopped onions if desired.
2. Have the eggs, matzo meal, S&P, (and dried onion, if needed) close at hand.
3. Get ready 2-4 deep pans of oil, according to how many pans you have or can borrow. With a good lid you can actually prepare them beforehand and leave them on the stove--the oil is stored at room temp., anyway.
4. Have in mind what you will use to drain them--maybe baking pans or Tupperware lined with newspaper, paper towels, or what have you, the same thing that you will transport them in.
5. When you duck back in to do some frying, start by turning on the fire under all pans as soon as you get home. Keep the lids (or foil) on the pans to speed the heating of the oil!
6. While the oil is heating, mix up the latkes themselves and prepare the draining apparatus.
7. When the oil is ready (test latke should bubble on contact), load all the pans. Watch out for the pans on the smaller burners! They will take longer to heat.
8. In this way, with the pans of an average household holding 6-9 baby latkes per pan, you should be able to do 24-36 little ones at a time. This gets the ducking out down to a reasonable level. With a nice saute pan with straight sides, you can do up to 12 per pan. If you have a heavy roasting pan or similar, you can also use that.
Be'teavon! Bon appétit!
posted by skbw at 12:45 PM on December 10, 2011
This will get a surprised reaction from people who are used to large, flat latkes underdone in the middle.
I have this theory that there is some way to parcook the potato slurry before frying to avoid exactly this issue. I haven't tried it, but I suspect if you like, boiled potato chunks for a bit to soften them up, let them cool/dry (actually you could try cooking out some of the water honestly), and then grate them, you might be in business. I have never tried this though, it's all in the realm of the theoretical.
I have ANOTHER latke theory that I haven't explored to deeply either, which is that latke quality is highly correlated to potato age. When Ray Croc was running McDonald's, his squad of fry scientists figured out all that stuff about potato hydration and its relationship to fry quality, and they ended up setting up potato-drying rooms with air circulators and they had a team of people who would test the potatoes with hygrometers before shipping them off to be made into fries. This is part of the reason McD's fries were (still are, imho) so good.
So the latke is traditionally a Hanukkah food, right? But in old Poland I'm sure nobody was going and digging potatoes out of the frozen earth in the middle of December. They must have dug the potatoes earlier, and stored them in some sort of cool, dry root cellar. What does this sound like? It sounds like McDonald's potato dehydrating operation to me.
So I believe there must be some way to dehydrate the potatoes before cooking them, possibly over months of cool, dark, dry storage with moving air, that will take the latkes to the next level. Now, obviously that is at odds with the idea of parcooking: you might be rehydrating at the same time (I'm not really clear on how the potato cooks under water). I don't know how to avoid this (psych, I do: sous-vide. ahah jk), but I do know the over-carmelized outside sugars/under-broken down pectin insides is the BANE of all latke-making.
These are just theories though. Jesus, I spend too much time thinking about latkes.
posted by jeb at 12:48 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
I have this theory that there is some way to parcook the potato slurry before frying to avoid exactly this issue. I haven't tried it, but I suspect if you like, boiled potato chunks for a bit to soften them up, let them cool/dry (actually you could try cooking out some of the water honestly), and then grate them, you might be in business. I have never tried this though, it's all in the realm of the theoretical.
I have ANOTHER latke theory that I haven't explored to deeply either, which is that latke quality is highly correlated to potato age. When Ray Croc was running McDonald's, his squad of fry scientists figured out all that stuff about potato hydration and its relationship to fry quality, and they ended up setting up potato-drying rooms with air circulators and they had a team of people who would test the potatoes with hygrometers before shipping them off to be made into fries. This is part of the reason McD's fries were (still are, imho) so good.
So the latke is traditionally a Hanukkah food, right? But in old Poland I'm sure nobody was going and digging potatoes out of the frozen earth in the middle of December. They must have dug the potatoes earlier, and stored them in some sort of cool, dry root cellar. What does this sound like? It sounds like McDonald's potato dehydrating operation to me.
So I believe there must be some way to dehydrate the potatoes before cooking them, possibly over months of cool, dark, dry storage with moving air, that will take the latkes to the next level. Now, obviously that is at odds with the idea of parcooking: you might be rehydrating at the same time (I'm not really clear on how the potato cooks under water). I don't know how to avoid this (psych, I do: sous-vide. ahah jk), but I do know the over-carmelized outside sugars/under-broken down pectin insides is the BANE of all latke-making.
These are just theories though. Jesus, I spend too much time thinking about latkes.
posted by jeb at 12:48 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Think I'm leaning towards just showing up with piping hot appetizer latkes rather than leaving to fry mid party. To the grocertorium!
posted by yellowbinder at 12:54 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by yellowbinder at 12:54 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sounds like the correct approach, yellowbinder. You still might want to go for multiple pans if possible--it's a labor of love, but still a labor.
Quadruple favorite, jeb. I have actually never desired to make large and/or thick latkes. If I did, I might blanch the already grated potatoes. Huge pot of boiling water, dump huge batch of grated potatoes in, remove some very short time later, as with blanching cabbage leaves (or peppers) for, uh, the other major Ashkenazi food.
Historical and/or gardening note: in moderately cold climates, like, say, the U.S., or maybe Germany, potatoes and other root vegetables can, in fact, be stored in the ground in winter and retrieved as needed. In pre-climate-change Russia, the sort of place where people hacked holes in lake ice in order to do the ritual bath thing, I would bet the ground was frozen too deep for this. That said, I bet our present supermarket potato is already root-cellared quite a bit.
posted by skbw at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2011
Quadruple favorite, jeb. I have actually never desired to make large and/or thick latkes. If I did, I might blanch the already grated potatoes. Huge pot of boiling water, dump huge batch of grated potatoes in, remove some very short time later, as with blanching cabbage leaves (or peppers) for, uh, the other major Ashkenazi food.
Historical and/or gardening note: in moderately cold climates, like, say, the U.S., or maybe Germany, potatoes and other root vegetables can, in fact, be stored in the ground in winter and retrieved as needed. In pre-climate-change Russia, the sort of place where people hacked holes in lake ice in order to do the ritual bath thing, I would bet the ground was frozen too deep for this. That said, I bet our present supermarket potato is already root-cellared quite a bit.
posted by skbw at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2011
I always add a little bit of fresh minced garlic to the mixture. Also real apple sauce rocks, and it's very easy to make, cut up apples and cook in a little water or apple juice until they turn into applesauce.
posted by mareli at 4:15 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mareli at 4:15 PM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
In our family, latkes absolutely have to be made with potato shreds, not a coarse puree. The shredding attachment on the food processor works great.
Seconding soaking the potatoes in cold water until you are ready to cook.
Secret tip: use a salad spinner to get rid of the excess water! Faster and you won't end up with a pile of wet towels or wasted paper.
posted by metahawk at 8:40 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
Seconding soaking the potatoes in cold water until you are ready to cook.
Secret tip: use a salad spinner to get rid of the excess water! Faster and you won't end up with a pile of wet towels or wasted paper.
posted by metahawk at 8:40 PM on December 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
Mareli is correct on the garlic. It does not count as something weird because it is so closely related to the onion. By no additions, I mean no cumin, for example, or other taste that would be delicious but alien to the latke.
Don't skimp on the salt!
The coarse puree approach is delicious, too, but makes a different kind of latke entirely.
posted by skbw at 9:09 AM on December 11, 2011
Don't skimp on the salt!
The coarse puree approach is delicious, too, but makes a different kind of latke entirely.
posted by skbw at 9:09 AM on December 11, 2011
Make some mash potatoes, mix with shredded potato, add egg, matzo and some chopped yellow onion. Everything being equal, you should be able to "eye ball" the ingredients to your liking. The mash potato will help bind things and add a wonderful lightness to the end product. If I have it, I will cook them in chicken fat otherwise just use peanut oil.
posted by bkeene12 at 8:02 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by bkeene12 at 8:02 PM on December 11, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hazyjane at 10:16 AM on December 10, 2011 [6 favorites]