Latkes

Latkes are a traditional Jewish food typically served at Hannukah. The connection between 'potato pancakes' and 'a great miracle happened here' is 'oil'; since the miracle pertained to an unlimited, everlasting supply, oily foods are cooked for the holiday!

This recipe is very fluid, handed down from mother to daughter in my family for generations. It's difficult to put numbers to it -- to me, latkes are cooked more by feel than anything else, instinct honed by making hundreds of them over many years.

Ingredients

• Potatoes, washed and coarsely grated. No need to peel. Food processor highly recommended for ease and speed. Simple brown russets are best for texture, though yukon golds are not unheard of.
• Onions, peeled and coarsely grated. Save the juice at the bottom of the bowl; it's great for flavoring. Roughly one large onion for every five potatoes is a reasonably good ratio. More or less can be added according to taste. Yellow onions are traditional, but sweet onions are also yummy.
• Eggs, 3-5 per large mixing bowl's worth of grated potato and onion. Be generous; the whole mixture should be pretty shiny.
• Seasonings: salt and pepper. White pepper works well as a substitution or combination with black. Garlic, minced or powdered, is very nontraditional but fabulous for the apostate latke-maker. Given a large mixing bowl full of potato that needs seasoning, season pretty heavily. A little does not go a long way.
• Thickening: flour, matzomeal, potato starch. Any of these work; matzomeal is traditional but has a really grainy texture that many people don't like. Potato starch (often marketed as potato flour) is ideal for gluten-free applications; it tastes at least as good, maybe better, than either other option. At least a cup per large mixing bowl; enough to cause the batter to hang together reasonably well without being a single glutinous mass.
• Oil, in quantity. Olive oil will smoke. Vegetable or canola oil are both fine.
• Applesauce and sour cream are traditional condiments. Some people serve with hot sauce or even a cheesy garlic dip.

Instructions

• Combine grated potatoes and onions in large mixing bowl, at a rate of roughly one onion to five potatoes. Be sure to include some onion juice.
• In a separate bowl, beat the seasoning into the eggs, then pour the mixture over the potatoes and onions. Stir, coating thoroughly.
• Add the thickening agent (we'll assume potato flour), stirring until batter is reasonably sticky, allowing a tablespoon's worth to hang together well when compressed by a thumb. Over the course of the evening, it may be necessary to add more as the potatoes release their water.
• On the stove, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. At least half an inch in the pan; enough to cover a lot of, but not completely submerge, an uncooked latke. Test for heat by dropping in a shred of potato from the batter; if it begins to bubble and cook immediately, it's ready.
• Shape a latke on a regular table spoon; larger latkes will cook more slowly, while smaller latkes will cook quickly but possibly be too crunchy. Experiment until you find what you like best. Drop latkes one at a time into the oil until pan is full. Latkes can touch, but will need to be smacked apart by a spatula's edge in the end if they cook together too much. Beware of popping oil.
• Patience is the key to a good latke; it may take five minutes a side at the proper heat, allowing a gradual golden-browning while cooking the inside thoroughly. Impatient latkes, cooked too quickly at high heat, are charred on the outside, raw on the inside, and gross. Before flipping a latke with a spatula, insert the spatula between latke and pan and lift a little, peeking at the underside. It should be golden-brown, on the browner end of that spectrum, but not anywhere close to charred.
• Carefully flip latkes as they become ready. The oil will pop when the raw side hits the pan. The second side will generally cook a little faster than the first, so check periodically.
• Remove finished latkes to drain on paper towels over a plate. Best eaten fresh, but be careful of burning your tongue! If it's necessary to store them before serving, place latkes (without paper towels!!) in a shell of two metal pie pans, maintained in the oven at 200 F. They store adequately in the fridge and can be revived in the oven the next day, but they will not be as good.
• Be sure to taste a latke early in the batch to see if the batter needs more seasoning or onion. Add to taste. Don't be alarmed as water accumulates in the bottom of the bowl; just gently squeeze some of it out of the batter while it's on your spoon, before you put the latke in to fry.
• Be sure to periodically fish out little pieces of potato and onion that have escaped the latkes into the pan, or they will burn and make the oil less tasty. It is also occasionally necessary (once every few batches, say) to add more oil, as the latkes take up quite a bit while cooking. Entirely replacing sufficiently dirty oil is not a bad plan.
• Serve with condiments for dipping; also delicious straight, all on their own. Enjoy the satisfaction of the world's best kind of junk food: homemade.

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