The Secret to Better Latkes
December 15, 2009
I went into G.’s school today to make latkes with a couple of other moms for Hanukkah. I am not the official latke-maker in our house — that’s J.’s domain. But I can still make a pretty delicious potato pancake, and it has nothing to do with the recipe. It’s all about controlling the moisture.
If you’ve never made a latke before, don’t worry about finding the “right” recipe. Any recipe you use will generally include potatoes, onions, eggs, flour or matzah meal, and salt and pepper. The secret is what you do with the potato and onion once they are grated. Place your grated potatoes and onions in a clean tea towel or some doubled-over cheese cloth. Pull up the edges so you’ve got the mixture in a ball at the bottom of the cloth, and the edges you pulled up around it are coming out the top of your fist. Over a sink or a bowl, hold the ball on the bottom in one hand, and wring those top edges tightly with your other hand, twisting so the cloth gets taut over the mixture and forces all the moisture out of potatoes and onions. Keep doing this until there’s not a drop of moisture coming out of those potatoes and onions.
You’ll wind up with a lot more liquid than you expected, plus a lot of starch (that’s the white stuff at the bottom of the bowl):
Now you can add the other ingredients, but add the eggs sparingly — they’re just helping to bind the mixture, they’re not meant to be noticed in the finished product.
That’s the simple, but critical, secret. When you cook with a dry-as-possible mix, your latkes will fry up quickly, super-crisp and brown. And those are the qualities of a perfect potato pancake, no matter what your recipe.
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Filed under: Holidays
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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8 Comments
1.
Jennifer | December 15, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I read that you should scoop up the starch and add it back into the batter. Yes? No? Maybe? Sometimes?
We don’t. BUT! I know some people use potato starch as a binder instead of flour or matzah meal, so I imagine it wouldn’t hurt. : ) — Dara
2.
Sharon | December 16, 2009 at 6:35 am
Yummy! They look delicious! I have been craving latkes all week!
3.
Amy | December 16, 2009 at 9:04 am
I only use the egg white…
4.
Stephanie | December 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm
A new trick I learned this year for making ahead. Instead of storing latke horizontally in layers, stack them vertically like books in a baking pan. This keeps them from compressing and they will crisp up better in the oven. Warm them in the same vertical fashion. If you are not eating them that day — freeze, don’t refrigerate and once again keep them vertical. It worked great.
5.
Jodi | December 17, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I think they look delicious! J. made them for us once in Summertown!
6.
Jordan | December 21, 2009 at 11:46 am
I add the starch back in. Seems to work well.
7. chickinthekitchen.com &ra&hellip | November 29, 2010 at 11:05 pm
[...] Latkes, sour cream, apple sauce, leftover [...]
8. chickinthekitchen.com &ra&hellip | December 1, 2010 at 9:01 pm
[...] the first night of Hanukkah. They were fantastic — perhaps the best I’ve ever made. (My secret, which is really J.’s secret? Cheesecloth.) I was so happy to heap on the sour cream and apple sauce, and enjoy this infrequent treat. The [...]
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