Hanukkah Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

Recently I shared how and why our family chooses to celebrate Hanukkah. In keeping with remembering the miracle of the oil, traditional food for the celebration includes foods fried in oil: latkes (potato pancakes) served with sour cream or applesauce and sufganiyot (jelly donuts). We've always made our latkes and used store-bought donuts, although I have a couple of recipes I'd like to try out one of these days.

This is the latke recipe our family uses. We use expeller-pressed coconut oil, which makes them nice and crispy!

3 cups raw grated potato
1 small grated onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp Real Salt (to taste) (ordinary table salt will work too)
1 heaping tbsp flour or matzah meal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp pepper (to taste)
expeller-pressed coconut oil or oil of your preference for frying
sour cream or apple sauce (both are delicious with them, the kids prefer applesauce)

Peel and grate the potatoes and onions (by hand or using a food processor), squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Add the remaining ingredients (except the last two). Heat the oil in a frying pan about 1/4 inch in depth. When hot, drop the latke mixture into the oil to fry. (Note: the size of latkes vary quite a bit, from the size of hamburger patties to silver-dollar size. This is ultimately up to you. If you're using them as your main dish, make them larger, if they're a side dish or dessert, make them smaller). Fry them until they're crispy on the outside and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Yield depends on latke size...anywhere from 8 large to 24 small. They're best served immediately while they're hot and crispy, but they will store for several days if necessary.

Although they're called potato pancakes, I think they're actually quite similar to hash browns. Either way, they're tasty and make a fun dinner for our Hanukkah celebration, and they're wonderful for all year round too.

Enjoy!

Linked with:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tuesday Twister