Potato pancakes

Ingredients

Potato

• 1 kgfloury potatoes
• 1onion

Binder

• 2eggs
• 2 tbspplain flour or potato starch
• 1 tspsalt
• white pepper

To fry

• oil or lard, for shallow frying

To serve

• soured cream
• chopped dill
• crisp bacon
• or lingonberry jam

Directions

1. Use floury potatoes rather than waxy ones. Waxy potatoes stay firm and slippery and the pancakes fall apart. Grate the potatoes on the coarse side of a box grater rather than finely. Coarse shreds give the ragged, lacy edges that catch and crisp, where finely grated potato turns to a smooth paste.
2. Grate the onion in with the potato, which both seasons it and slows the discolouring. Put the grated potato in a clean cloth and wring it out hard over a bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as you possibly can, and you will be surprised how much comes out. Wet potato steams in the pan instead of frying and gives a soggy grey pancake, so this is not a step to hurry.
3. Let the squeezed-out liquid stand for two or three minutes. Pour off the water carefully and scrape that starch back into the potato. White pepper rather than black is standard here and keeps the pancakes looking clean.
4. Work quickly at this stage, since grated raw potato oxidises and turns grey within minutes. Do not make the mixture ahead, since it darkens and weeps water on standing. Use enough oil to come a few millimetres up the sides of the pancakes. A dry pan gives a soft pale pancake.
5. Heat the pan over a medium heat rather than a fierce one. Raw potato needs a few minutes to cook through, and high heat burns the outside while the middle stays raw and starchy.
6. Press them out to about a centimetre thick with the back of the spoon. Keep them fairly thin, since a thick pancake stays raw in the centre. Do not crowd the pan, which drops the temperature. Leave them alone until the underside is deep golden, since moving them early breaks them apart before they have set. Turn once and fry the other side for three or four minutes.
7. Press them lightly with the spatula after turning so the whole surface makes contact. They are done when both sides are deep brown and the edges are crisp. Drain them on a rack rather than on paper, so the undersides stay crisp. Salt them while they are still hot. Serve them immediately, since they soften within minutes.

Technique

• Squeezing the grated potato dry is the step that decides the result.
• The starch that settles from the squeezed liquid is the best binder.
• Coarse grating gives the lacy crisp edges.

Substitutions

• Potato starch in place of flour, which is better.
• Oil in place of lard, though lard tastes better.

Variations

• With bacon and onion mixed into the batter.
• Served sweet, with jam and cream.
• Made with a little grated carrot through them.

Frequently asked questions

What is Potato pancakes?

Potato pancakes is a main from Latvia: crisp grated-potato pancakes with sour cream.

How long does Potato pancakes take to make?

Potato pancakes takes 20 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 pancakes. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Potato pancakes?

Yes, within limits. Potato starch in place of flour, which is better. Oil in place of lard, though lard tastes better.

What is the most important thing to get right in Potato pancakes?

Use floury potatoes rather than waxy ones. Waxy potatoes stay firm and slippery and the pancakes fall apart. Grate the potatoes on the coarse side of a box grater rather than finely. Coarse shreds give the ragged, lacy edges that catch and crisp, where finely grated potato turns to a smooth paste.