Sides & Vegetables · Eastern European & Slavic

Potato Pancakes

Name: Potato Pancakes
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 lb potato (starchy, russet, peeled and grated); 1 unit onion (grated, on the same holes); 1 unit eggs (beaten); 1 tsp salt; ¼ tsp black pepper (ground); ½ cup vegetable oil (for frying, 3 mm deep)

6 ingredients · 45 minutes · 4 servings

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186kcal5.2g protein4.7g fat31.7g carbs~$0.51/ serving*

Vegetarian · without onePescatarian · without oneNo pork · without oneNo alcohol

Contains: egg

Ingredients

Servings:

2 lb	potato (starchy, russet, peeled and grated)
1 unit	onion (grated, on the same holes)
1 unit	eggs (beaten)
1 tsp	salt
¼ tsp	black pepper (ground)
½ cup	vegetable oil (for frying, 3 mm deep)
½ cup	cream (sour, to serve)optional
1 unit	apple (grated, or as a sauce alongside)optional
2 tbsp	flour (as insurance if the batter is loose)optional
½ cup	lard (in place of the oil)optional
2 tbsp	chives (chopped)optional

Method

grate10 min
box grater or food processor, potato and onion together
potato + onion into one bowl. Grating them together is not laziness — the onion's acid slows the enzymatic browning that turns raw grated potato pink and then grey within minutes, and the clock starts the moment the first potato is cut
mash6 min
in a clean tea towel, wrung as hard as you can, liquid kept
the mixture squeezed over a bowl until no more runs out — expect the better part of a cup. Keep that liquid and let it stand five minutes: a dense white layer of starch settles at the bottom. Pour off the water, keep the starch. This is the difference between a crisp cake and a soggy one, because the water you left in has to boil off in the pan and it steams the interior while it does
mix4 min
squeezed potato, reclaimed starch, egg, worked quickly
squeezed potato + reserved starch + egg + salt + pepper (+ flour if it will not hold together, + chives). Season now and taste a pinch of the raw mixture for salt — an under-salted potato pancake cannot be rescued at the table, since the surface is sealed by frying
fry20 min
oil 3 mm deep at 175°C, flattened mounds, 3-4 minutes a side, not crowded
spoonfuls pressed thin and fried until deep brown and crisp at the edges, turned once. The oil should be hot enough that a shred sizzles immediately: too cool and the cake absorbs oil instead of searing, which is the actual cause of a greasy latke. Flatten them properly — a thick mound browns outside while the centre stays raw and starchy
rest5 min
wire rack, never paper towel, salted while hot
on a rack so steam escapes from underneath. On paper towel the underside steams itself soft within a minute, which undoes the frying. Salt the moment they come out, while the surface oil can still carry it (+ sour cream, + apple)