I love watching food bloggers and up and coming food stars, they always have the best tips, two of which I think are great. The first; to keep your oil turning bitter and lots of black bits floating around, add 2-inch pieces of raw carrots to the oil along with whatever you are cooking, the carrot acts like a magnet and draws the black floaty bits to itself. The second tip; consider draining the latkes on a cooling rack rather than a paper towel, the excess oil will drip off, while on a paper towel, though the excess oil does get absorbed the latke continues steaming.
- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
- 1.25 kg (2.7 lb) potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup matzo meal
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper
- Oil for frying
In the bowl of a food processor, with the blade attachment, mince the onion very fine. Place the onion in a large bowl. Switch to grater attachment and grate the potatoes. Place the grated potatoes in a clean tea (kitchen) towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Add the squeezed-out potatoes to the onions. Add the eggs, matzo meal, potato starch, salt, and pepper and mix well.
Heat about 1cm (half an inch) of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add a carrot, if using. Squeeze a handful of the potato mixture between your hands, squeezing out as much liquid as possible, and form into a flat pattie.
Place into hot oil and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Repeat with the remaining potato mixture. Drain latkes on a cooling rack or on a paper-lined dish.
