The Keys to Successful Potato Pancakes

Calm down! It's all made the same way and people call them by different names. My Grandmother was from Poland and when he came to America she grated the potato added and onion and flour,egg,s&p then droped the batter by spoonfuls in the hot skillet She called them potato pancakes and served them with applesauce or sourcream lots of times on Fridays as Catholics didn't eat meat. She called them potato pancakes. When I was a guest in a jewish home the lady made the same thing and called them latkes. It doesn't matter what they are called they taste great

mmmmmmmm

Had the best potato pancakes and apple sauce in the little guest houses in Germany. They are not hash browns.

Our traditional potato pancakes do not extract liquid, we add more flour, but most important our potato pancakes have to contain garlic (lots of it) and marjoram (lots of it) and salt and pepper. If possible we fry them in lard. Eggs are in it too. Try those with garlic and marjoram - those are not hash browns. Zdena

Easy potato pancake, no eggs, flour, grating needed. Use small red potatoes or Yukon Gold. Cook clean potatoes in microwave for a few minutes based on your microwave power, or boil the potatoes. Once cooked let them cool. When they are cool enough to handle simply "mash" each potato in between your hands lightly. They should make a nice round flat potato disc.

In a large deep skillet heat cooking oil til hot, test w/small piece of potato, when oil is hot, gently place potato cakes in oil and fry until heated through, brown and crisp on each side. Drain on paper towel. Season w/salt and pepper and enjoy!

Too much salt. You're told to add salt and pepper when they are in the colander. You're told again to salt and pepper when they are done. I've cooked these for years and they are good, but let your guests add salt to their food if they want it.

You can always add, but can never take away. People who want to eat healthier don't want all that salt. You will be surprised how good food actually tastes without it or when used sparingly. You have to go without it (or not much) for two weeks, then you are cured of the addiction for salt. We are conditioned to like it, which is why French fries are covered with it.

Yes, these are like hash browns, but not exactly. You can also use mayo in place of or in addition to the egg. Use olive oil and skip the butter. When cooking for guests, make it as healthy as possible; they might have gym memberships and not want to pile up on carbs, salt and fat.

wow, my mom made these where were growing up--she served them with warm stewed tomatoes on the top

im gunna print this out and make it tonight!!! yummmm

You can use a mix.

take it from a Polak, add a tablespoon of milk to keep the taters from discoloring and instead of using the shredder side, use the grater side (the superfine little holes) ... oh and yeah the frying in lard works best - lard can get way hotter, but i know most people can't handle the thought of it.

If you use a grater that is a metal plate with holes in it, you're doing it wrong, you are making hash browns glued together with batter. Get yourself a real German "Kuchenprofi Potato Grater/Shredder" (15 bucks on amazon, Sur La Table has them too). Then you will be making them the right way. It goes without saying that a food processor is farbotn.

The best way to remove most of the water, you place the GRATED potatoes in a clean cotton kitchen towel, perhaps an "old" one, because the potatoes will discolor the cloth. Add the GRATED onion, then roll and squeeze. Don't go overboard on salt, and I've never heard of using pepper. They taste best when fried in plenty of oil. If you do use an oil/butter mix, be sure to let the butter dissolve before adding oil. The best way to determine doneness of the underside is when the rims of the latkes start to turn a golden brown.
To the contributor who doesn't like pancakes: POTATO pancakes have NOTHING in common with flour batter pancakes.

If you add a vitamin C tablet you can delay the oxidation/discoloration

If you check Wikipedia the "potato pancake" is the grated latkes as described. Other cultures also offer a type of fried potato cake but, that does not change the title given here.

wonderful receipes....

Enjoy your latkes and Happy Chanukah!

I found that the onion juice helps keep the potatoes from discoloring after the mixture is squeezed dry.

I lov them but we make them with leftover mash potatos, just add a egg or 2 and apx 1/4 of flour and fry with a little dap of butter...tummy!

i've never had one of these for Chanukah.. wrong holiday.
and for those who said apple sauce doesn't go with these it takes like amazing

To prevent browning of potatoes, squeeze a lemon on the potatoes just after you grate them.

To keep them from turning brown just put them in a little salt water or pour salt water over the grated potatoes. Rinse before use.