Classic, Crispy Potato Latkes

Happy Chanukah everyone! Today, I’m sharing a recipe for classic potato latkes. These are the latkes my mom made when I was growing up and they’re the latkes I make for Chanukah today. When I was little, we’d sit at the kitchen table peeling pounds of potatoes while singing Chanukah songs together. Today, I’ll sometimes rope a friend or my little sister in to help with the peeling- and we sing the same exact songs (Light Up The Nights fans, please stand up.)

These latkes are simple and crispy as can be, just like I love them. They’re made with Russet potatoes for their high starch content and low moisture, which helps yield that crisp texture, and a little bit of egg, onion and matzah meal binds the mixture together. I never stray from this recipe, and people always ask for it. Minimal ingredients, optimal results.

I stick with pretty classic toppings, too. Crème fraiche, salmon roe, lox, applesauce- those are all making an appearance. If I’m hosting a big party, I’ll often make a latke board with all kinds of cheeses, jams and toppings for guests to assemble their own latkes, like fresh figs and blue cheese, labneh and za’atar with pomegranate seeds, or even quince paste with manchego. It’s a very fun DIY latke kind of situation. Here, I topped the latkes with lox, sour cream and caviar, my personal holy trinity of toppings.

Read through the recipe below for some frying tips, and don’t forget the cardinal rule: latkes must be eaten hot and fresh, and followed up with doughnuts!

xx, Chaya

Yield: 50 two inch latkes

Why I love this recipe: draining all the liquid from the potato mixture and frying them in very hot oil results in a super crispy, flavorful latke.

For the latkes:

• 5 lbs. Russet potatoes, peeled
• 2 large yellow onions, peeled and grated
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup matzah meal
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• freshly grated black pepper
• neutral oil, for frying

For the toppings:

• Fresh dill, sour cream, chives, lox, caviar and applesauce, for serving

1. Grate the potatoes using a food processor or box grater. Lay down a clean tea towel and dump the grated potatoes and onions onto the towel. Gathering the corners of the towel, make a pouch, squeezing and twisting out as much liquid as possible from the potatoes. Do this until the mixture is as dry as possible.
2. Place the wrung out potato mixture into a bowl. Combine with the eggs, matzah meal, salt and pepper.
3. Pour 1/4″ of oil into a heavy, 12″ skillet. Over medium-high heat, heat oil until very hot, but not smoking. Form 2″ round latkes and squeeze out any liquid from each patty before flattening with your palm and gently place in the oil, 4-5 at a time.
4. Once in the oil, use a metal fish spatula to flatten the latkes again, while maintaining their round shape. (A little tip: at this point you can add a carrot to the cooking oil- it’ll attract any burning bits that float off from the latkes and keep the oil cleaner.)
5. Dot not flip until the first 3-5 minutes, letting a crispy, golden brown crust form on the bottom of the latkes. Once 3-5 minutes are up, flip the latkes and continue frying until the other side is well browned, another 3-5 minutes.
6. Using a spatula, transfer latkes to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Blot any excess oil with additional paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter until all the latke batter is used up. (If you’d like to prepare a large batch of these latkes ahead of time because you don’t want to be an on-demand fry cook at the Chanukah party, I get it. Latkes are best straight out of the frying pan, but here’s how to reheat them so they’re still pretty great: place latkes on a cooling rack topped, foil lined baking sheet and reheat at 400F for 10-12 minutes, until crisp again. Voila!)
7. Serve while hot and fresh, topped with desired toppings. Eat hot and enjoy!