Recipe

Potato Latkes

Community Pick!

Recipe
No Questions Yet

Photo by wcfoodies

This recipe was entered in the contest for The Best Recipe or Technique Your Mother Taught You
A&M's Testing Notes: This recipe looks very familiar, until you get to the baking powder. What an addition! The potatoes are suspended in batter, light, chewy and crispy, really wonderful, almost fritter-like...
This recipe looks very familiar, until you get to the baking powder. What an addition! The potatoes are suspended in batter, light, chewy and crispy, really wonderful, almost fritter-like. I think these latkes are better than my grandmother's. I am now waiting for lightening to strike. - MrsWheelbarrow

Expand Collapse
Chef
wcfoodies's Notes: Latkes are more of a phenomenon than a dish for me: once a year, I gorge on latkes, going way past the uncomfortably full stage, and then abstain completely for the other 364 days. I associate...
Latkes are more of a phenomenon than a dish for me: once a year, I gorge on latkes, going way past the uncomfortably full stage, and then abstain completely for the other 364 days. I associate more happy memories with latkes than probably any other food in the world and they’d be the centerpiece of my last meal on earth, but it’s a one-night-a-year treat. It’s not that having a plate of latkes in, say, June would be sacrilegious or even just wrong; but the thought of doing so would never even cross my mind. Latkes are sacred. Latkes, for me, are Hanukkah.

And, yes, when I say ‘latkes’, I mean ‘my mom’s latkes’. There’s no exception. No substitutes. You may swear that your zadie or bubby or great-aunt Ethel makes the world’s best latkes, and I’ll politely abstain. All latkes are not fried equal.

To be perfectly honest, your great-aunt Ethel’s latkes may be just as good as my mom’s; they may even be better (not a chance). But when I bite into one of my mom’s latkes, the best moments of every Hanukkah past sweep over me: dinner with my cousins; the waffle blocks that were all I wanted in 1988; beating my dad at dreidle; the reflection of the menorah’s candles against the snow outside the window on the last night of Hanukkah. It’s not nostalgia, it’s being there, the sights, sounds, smells of holidays gone by as real and tangible as they ever were. That’s something your bubby’s latkes can’t do for me.

This recipe originated with my grandfather, Carl Mayle, who passed away in February at the age of 98. I have foggy memories of watching him peel potatoes over the kitchen sink, but much stronger are memories of making these, from a very young age, with my mother. Making latkes with my mom are one of my earliest memories, in or out of the kitchen: as a toddler, it was my proud duty to sprinkle in the matzoh meal and salt; as I grew older, she let me share more of the process. Now, if I'm home for Hanukkah, we make latkes together, side by side. Perhaps frying potato cakes is a strange way to form a mother-daughter bond, but it's worked for us. The tasty results don't hurt. - wcfoodies

Expand Collapse

Serves 6-8

5 pounds potatoes, Yukon Gold or Russet, peeled Ask a question about this ingredient

1.5 pounds white or yellow onions Ask a question about this ingredient

2/3 cups matzoh meal Ask a question about this ingredient

1 cup all-purpose flour Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons baking powder Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon salt Ask a question about this ingredient

4 large eggs, lightly beaten Ask a question about this ingredient

black pepper, to taste Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil, for frying Ask a question about this ingredient

Grate the potatoes and onions and drain well (you can do this by hand, or in a food processor with the grater attachment).
Ask a question about this step
Combine potatoes and onions in a large bowl. Combine flour, matzoh meal, baking powder, salt, and pepper in another bowl; stir dry ingredients into potatoes and onions. Stir in the beaten eggs.
Ask a question about this step
Heat about 1/2" of oil to moderately high heat in a skillet or electric fry pan. Using a large slotted spoon, scoop up some of the latke batter and press it firmly into the spoon to drain off any excess liquid. Pat the latke into a roughly even thickness and roundness, and gently slide into the oil.
Ask a question about this step
Repeat another 2-3 times, being careful that the latkes do not overcrowd the pan or touch each other. Fry, about 5 minutes or until golden-brown on the underside; flip and fry, about 5 minutes, on the 2nd side. Remove to a cooling rack set over a thick mat of newspaper or towels, to catch any dripping oil.
Ask a question about this step
Repeat the process, occasionally stirring the latke batter to keep it from separating. Serve latkes right away with applesauce and/or sour cream and sugar, or keep warm in a 200ºF oven on a baking sheet.
Ask a question about this step

7 Comments on Potato Latkes

monkeymom added about 1 year ago

this was my first time making latkes and everyone loved them! Your video and the ones on food52 were very helpful. Thanks for this delicious recipe!

nratt added over 2 years ago

Question: Am I right to read this as "2 to 3 cups" of matzoh, rather than "two-thirds of a cup"? I'm not Jewish, and I've never made latkes. But, potatoes, onions, fried ... what's not to like? Sounds great. Gotta try 'em!

wcfoodies added about 1 year ago

2/3 of a cup! They really are delicious and you only need to add enough matzoh meal to hold the latkes together.

rmlwrites added over 2 years ago

The tastes, smells and sounds of sizzling potato latkes in the frying pan are almost visceral to me. Add to the ritual the lighting of the Chanukah candles, making the kids sing corny songs ("Come See the Lights; Eight Days and Nights..." as we hold hands and dance around the kitchen table. The whole experience resonates with everything good about holidays and the food that brings us closer to each other. Note on the recipe: the amount of matzo meal and flour is flexible. The important thing is for the potato/onion mixture to be squeezed out as dry as possible when you start the frying. And more onions are always good! Fry until the edges are very crisp and crunchy. The "fringes" were always grandpa's favorite part!