Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about Hanukkah.
I mean, I know it started yesterday, I know about dreidels, menorahs, the small amount of oil that lasted eight days and latkes. Oh man, do I know about latkes. And not in the I-make-the-best-latkes kind of way, just in the I-want-to-eat-all-the-latkes-all-the-time way.
For those of you who don’t know, a latke is a little potato pancake made up shredded potatoes (like hashbrowns) and then fried up golden brown so the inside stays soft and tender while sporting a crisp outer coat When I worked for a food publication in Des Moines, the company I worked for would have all the food editors get together for a big holiday party. Everyone pairs off and makes a dish to share at the dinner in the beautiful test kitchens. I paired up with one of the editors from New York, who I worked closely with often (over the phone, of course). She taught me how to make latkes and she just knew what she was doing down to the core of it all. She crushed it, really.
We hand-grated the potatoes to preserve enough of the natural starches from the vegetable, therefore forgoing any added flour or processed starches to preserve maximum fresh, potatoey flavor. (The starch plays an important role in keeping the little potato pancake held together in one neat little package.) Then we added grated onion, garlic and some egg, smooshed the mixture into little, flattened potato balls and—here’s the best part—fried them in lard. Yep, lard.
That was a little off putting to me at first. I come from a family of high cholesterol and had never used animal fat to fry other foods in (OK, except for all those morning when I save the bacon grease to cook hashbrowns, but that’s totally different! Right? Right? Bueller?). She assured me this would create the most perfectly crisp, moist latkes and my goodness was she right. After they came out of the pan, I liberally salted those make-your-mouth-water treats and plopped them down for everyone next to a big ole’ bowl of homemade applesauce to be the hero of the latke party.
However, this is a labor-intensive process. Well, not really so much labor as time. Grating potatoes can be tedious my friends, and well, when you’re only cooking for one or two people it can feel not worth it. This lazy version uses pre-shredded potatoes (i.e. hashbrowns) from the freezer or fridge, along with the regular, flavor enhancing ingredients—garlic and onion—as well as an egg and some potato starch to bind the whole thing together then fried up crisp in canola oil—because let’s face it, most of us don’t have lard on hand and this route is a bit healthier. Most people serve them up as a sweet treat with applesauce or a savory bite with sour cream, but I had hashbrowns on the mind and whipped this latkes into the perfect holiday breakfast by topping them with a fried egg. Can it get anymore greasy (delicious) than that?
- 1 cup shredded potatoes (like frozen Ore-Ida hashbrowns)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt
- ¼ canola oil
- 4 eggs, fried
- If frozen, thaw the potatoes (rinsing under cool water should quickly do the trick). Combine the potatoes, egg, starch, onion and garlic in a bowl.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Form the potato mixture into four large or eight small balls. Squish each ball down, squeezing out as much of the moisture as possible, then place in the oil.
- Once the edges turn golden brown, flip and allow to cook on the other side. Once golden brown all around, remove from the oil using a slotted spoon and transfer onto paper towels. Generously sprinkle with salt.
- Arrange either two large or four small latkes on each plate and top with the fried eggs. Dunk your fork into the yolk and enjoy all the creamy, crispy yolk covered latke goodness!
