Hanukkah Help: 11 Tips for Making Perfect Latkes
Photo: Michael Waring/Stockfood
Just in time for Hanukkah, we’re sharing latke-making tips from The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen: A Fresh Take on Tradition by Amelia Saltsman (Sterling Epicure), a cooking teacher and cookbook author. Use Saltsman’s handy advice to make her recipe for The Best Potato Latkes.
THE ART OF PERFECT LATKES
1. You can peel potatoes up to 2 hours before you grate them and keep them immersed in a bowl of water to prevent them from discoloring.
2. Although food processors now make short work of preparing latkes for a crowd, I find that the large-hole side of an old-fashioned box grater still produces the best pancakes.
3. Prepare the latke batter just before you are ready to begin cooking. Grated potatoes will start to discolor immediately, turning orange and then gray. As long as you begin cooking the latkes within 30 minutes or so of making the batter, the color will return to normal when the potatoes hit the heat. Don’t even think about making latke batter the night before. You will end up with charcoal-gray latkes.
4. Heat the skillet(s) over medium heat, not high.
5. Keep the oil to a depth of no more than ¼ inch (6 mm) and make sure it remains hot enough so that the latke batter sizzles on contact. This will prevent the latkes from soaking up the oil. You will need to add oil to the pan from time to time. Tilt the pan a bit to give the oil a chance to heat quickly before allowing it to flow under the latkes.
6. From time to time, remove the little brown bits that accumulate in the pan as you cook the latkes. These burn easily and will impart an acrid taste to the cooking oil and the latkes. If the pan gets too hot and the oil starts to smoke, turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool enough to pour it out of the pan. Then wipe out the pan and start all over again with fresh oil.
7. Stir the batter frequently, as the starch will sink to the bottom of the bowl, especially with potato latkes. Be sure to include both vegetable and some of the starchy, eggy liquid when spooning out the batter for each latke.
8. Keep your latkes thin! Thick latkes are a recipe for disaster: raw inside and burnt outside. One generous tablespoonful is enough to make a 3- to 4-inch (7.5- to 10-cm) pancake. Place the spoonful in the hot pan and immediately flatten it into a pancake with the back of the spoon.
9. If you are cooking latkes for a crowd, preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). When you fill a paper towel–lined sheet pan with a layer of cooked latkes, slip the pan uncovered into the oven to keep the latkes warm while you cook the remaining batter.
10. Latkes taste best when cooked à la minute, so make cooking part of your Hanukkah party, and enlist guests to take a turn at the stove.
11. If you must, you can cook the latkes a few hours ahead and let them cool on the baking sheets. Just before serving, reheat them in a single layer in a 350°F (180°C) oven until they are piping hot.
Reprinted with permission from The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen by Amelia Salesman (Sterling Epicure).
More Hanukkah Cooking ideas on Yahoo Food:
Three Tasty Hanukkah Treats from Martha Stewart
Sufganiot, aka the Hanukkah Doughnut from Joy of Kosher
Kale Latkes from Local Kitchen Blog
