Latkes, American-style potato pancakes
Latkes are a staple of New York Jewish cuisine. These potato pancakes have Eastern European roots and are a traditional Hanukkah dish, though you'll find them year-round in NYC delis and restaurants, especially on the Lower East Side.
A staple of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, latkes arrived in New York with Eastern European Jewish immigrants who landed at Ellis Island. Traditionally served only during Hanukkah in December, you can find them year-round at New York delis and restaurants serving Jewish cuisine, especially in the Lower East Side.
Ingredients for about 20 latkes
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) potatoes.
- 1 onion.
- 3 medium eggs or 2 large.
- 2 to 3 tablespoons matzo meal, or 2 tablespoons potato starch if unavailable.
- Neutral oil such as sunflower oil for cooking.
Potato tips
- Potato choice matters for this recipe. Use starchy potatoes that are firm to the touch—varieties like Bintje, Manon or Estima work well. Their low water content will give you the best results when cooking.
Matzo meal tips
- You’ll find matzo meal at health food stores or Jewish groceries. If you can’t find it, buy matzo at a health food store, let it dry slightly, and pulse it in a food processor to make breadcrumbs.
- Don’t use too much matzo meal or your pancakes will be heavy.
- If you don’t have matzo meal, you can use potato starch instead. Adding a starch isn’t essential, but it makes the mixture more compact, which helps you shape and cook the latkes more easily. With or without flour, the mixture shouldn’t be too wet so you can shape the latkes properly.
Preparing and cooking latkes
- 1/ Grate the potatoes.
- 2/ Let the grated potatoes soak in water. Potatoes have a high starch content, so soaking removes the starch and prevents the latkes from becoming sticky.
- 3/ While the potatoes soak, grate the onion.
- 4/ Squeeze out all the liquid from the grated onion using cheesecloth, a strainer or a fine-mesh sieve.
- 5/ Remove the grated potatoes from the water and rinse them.
- 6/ Press the grated potatoes firmly with cheesecloth, a strainer or a fine-mesh sieve to remove all the water.
- 7/ Place the potatoes and onion in a bowl.
- 8/ Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture.
- 9/ Add the matzo meal or potato starch. If you like, you can also add chopped parsley or chives. It depends whether you want plain latkes or flavored ones.
- 10/ Heat the pan with about 0.5 cm (0.2 in) of oil.
- 11/ Shape the mixture into pancakes about 1 cm (0.4 in) thick and place them in the hot oil. Cook for 5 minutes on each side.
- 12/ Once the latkes are golden, transfer them to paper towels.
One more tip for an extra New York touch: serve the latkes with applesauce. You can also enjoy them with sour cream, which you can make yourself 48 hours ahead or buy from the dairy section. Enjoy!
Send us a photo of your latkes!
- Feel free to contact me if you’d like to submit a recipe. My email: patricia@cnewyork.net