By M W
Wolfson Family Latkes (Дранники)
11 steps
Prep:35minCook:30min
This is Inna Wolfson’s recipe, transcribed by Misha Wolfson. A lot of this is more “touch and feel” than implied by the precise numbers.
Important Notes:
• Do not over-scale the eggs, or scale them linearly. One egg is usually enough for a meal, unless you're making a lot. Too much egg will detract from the potato flavor and make the latkes brittle
• Having the eggs at RT is very important: take them out of the fridge early; if they are too cold, the starches will clump in the mixture; if you don’t have time for them to come to RT, wash them with warm water
• Draining the potatoes is very important, as is returning the starch to the mixture. Otherwise, they will not crisp well.
• Oils with high smoke point are good: canola, grapeseed, coconut
• Make sure the oil and pan are hot before adding batter
Mod Ideas:
• Add rosemary to batter
• Add red pepper flakes to batter
• Add paprika to batter
• Add onion/garlic
• Add parsnip/carrot
• Mix of yams and potatoes
Updated at: Mon, 06 Jan 2025 19:35:25 GMT
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Ingredients
6 servings
Latkes
3 lbpotatoes
russet ideal
1egg
room temperature
½ tspsalt
to taste
¼ tsppepper
to taste
¼ tspbaking powder
1 tspcorn starch
¼ cflour
to consistency
cooking oil
to coat pan, any high-smoke-point
American Toppings (optional)
Russian Toppings (optional)
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat oven to “keep warm” for holding the latkes until all batches are done frying
OvenPreheat
Prepare potatoes
Step 2
Wash and peel the potatoes. Eyes are fine, but avoid big strips of skin.
Step 3
Quarter or halve the potatoes, and grate with food processor (or by hand, if you are poor, in the Soviet Union, a massochist, or all of the above).
Food ProcessorMix
Step 4
(Optional) For a more American-style latke, after grating, re-process with the blade. Do not over-process; aim for 1/4-1/8”-sized square chunks; this will require more squeezing later on.
Food ProcessorMix
Step 5
Place a colander over a second medium bowl, covered with a cheesecloth or paper towel, take the potatoes in clumps, squeezing each clump firmly over the second bowl, and placing in colander to drain; repeat until all potatoes are draining; let drain for 5 – 10 minutes; *do not discard the water, it is full of starch*; allow the starch to settle to the bottom.
Prepare mixture
Step 6
While the potatoes are draining, beat the egg into a medium bowl; add everything except potatoes and flour
Whisk
Step 7
Add drained potatoes to bowl and coat with mixture. Fold in and stir.
Step 8
Decant/filter the top water off of the drained potato water, leaving the starch that has settled to the bottom. Stir the starch back into the batter.
Step 9
Add flour to batter to achieve desired final consistency: gooey, mostly potatoes.
Cook
Step 10
Prepare the pan.
Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Coat with oil and allow it to heat to shimmering.
CooktopHeat
Frying Pan
Step 11
Fry.
Scoop 1 Tbsp-sized clumps of the batter into the pan. Flatten with spoon. Give each latke space to sit in the pan. Aim for flat, thin latkes for even frying; fry 2-3 min per side, flipping to check if necessary. Fry in batches, adding prepared batches to warm oven container.
CooktopHeat
OvenHeat
Notes
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Crispy
Delicious
Kid-friendly
Special occasion
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