Curious about the connection between Hanukkah and latkes? Latke is the Yiddish word for pancakes. The latke draws its origin from the Ukrainian potato pancake. It is the dish most associated with Hanukkah in the United States since foods fried in oil have symbolic meaning for the holiday. This recipe makes a lacy potato pancake as long as the matzah meal is used sparingly. Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream.
Serves 6
Peel onion and cut it in half, then cut each half into eighths. Place onion pieces in the bowl of a food processor and pulse into a medium to fine dice. Remove onion to a large bowl. Immediately run the potatoes through the grating wheel on the food processor, and mix potatoes into the onions. The juice of the onions prevents the potatoes from turning black. (Alternatively, finely dice the onions and grate the potatoes by hand with a box grater.)
Using your fingers, pick up small amounts of the potato mixture by the handful and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Reserve all the liquid and allow it to settle in a bowl for a few minutes. Put the pressed potato and onion mixture in a clean bowl. Carefully pour off the watery part of the reserved liquid but do not discard the thick starchy sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Scrape that into the potato mixture.
In a small bowl mix the eggs, salt and pepper and combine with the potato mixture. Add the matzah meal to the batter, starting with 3 tablespoons and adding more if necessary until the potato mixture has enough body to stick together.
Heat a 1/2-inch depth of oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Form potato mixture into pancakes of approximately 3 inches in diameter and drop into oil, taking care not to crowd the pancakes. Fry, turning once, until golden on both sides for a total of about 6 minutes. Drain on clean brown paper bags. Keep pancakes warm while the rest are frying by placing the cooked, drained pancakes in a preheated 200°F oven.
Potato latkes can be frozen. After completely cooking the pancakes, place on a cookie sheet and freeze, then store in a container. When ready to use, reheat in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes.
Per serving (8.5oz/243g-wt.): 240 calories (35 from fat), 3.5g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 7g protein, 42g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 60mg cholesterol, 810mg sodium.
