Slightly Adapted Mamo's Potato Pancakes
From Food Network: Serve with applesauce, or try my family's favorite toppings: My great-grandmother put cinnamon in applesauce to serve with hers. My grandfather loved his with heaps of cold sour cream. My grandmother served them with poached pears. My mother tops them with tart, chunky homemade applesauce. My brother, Willie, loves his plain with sugar. My stepfather, Ronnie, loves his with ketchup -- but I wouldn't brag about that!
From Food Network: Serve with applesauce, or try my family's favorite toppings: My great-grandmother put cinnamon in applesauce to serve with hers. My grandfather loved his with heaps of cold sour cream. My grandmother served them with poached pears. My mother tops them with tart, chunky homemade applesauce. My brother, Willie, loves his plain with sugar. My stepfather, Ronnie, loves his with ketchup -- but I wouldn't brag about that!
- Carbohydrate 58.1521172189916 g
- Cholesterol 35.25 mg
- Fat 1.65833244941176 g
- Fiber 7.28330391496483 g
- Protein 7.81192053988795 g
- Saturated Fat 0.39040318162465 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (344g)
- Sodium 56.400007719888 mg
- Sugar 50.8688133040268 g
- Trans Fat 0.218963671148459 g
- Calories 273 calories
Step-by-step
- Peel the potatoes, immediately immersing them in very cold water as you finish each one.
- Remove the potatoes from the water. Grate the potatoes and onion with a food processor fitted with the grating blade. Don't press too hard on the potatoes going in -- just enough to get them through.
- Transfer the potatoes and onion to a fine-mesh strainer; squeeze out all the water into a bowl. Let the potato starch settle, then pour out as much water as possible, leaving the starch in the bowl. Add the potato-onion mixture to the bowl and mix in the egg, flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste.
- Heat a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet with a thin layer of vegetable oil over medium heat. Scoop large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the pan and flatten them out (thin pancakes yield crispy ones). Fry until golden on the bottom, then gently flip and fry the other side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. (If you have to wait to serve, re-crisp them on a baking sheet lined with clean paper towels in a 350 degrees F oven.)
Most home cooks fail at potato pancakes by treating the grated tubers like standard hash browns, leaving excess moisture that prevents browning and creates a steamed texture instead of a crisp crust. Achieving structural integrity requires deliberate mechanical intervention during preparation. Yukon Gold potatoes provide a moderate starch content that balances starchiness and moisture retention better than high-starch russets.
- Immersing peeled potatoes in very cold water immediately halts enzymatic browning before grating occurs.
- Squeezing the grated onion and potato mixture forces out free water, which carries dissolved starches into the collection bowl.
- Retaining the settled starch paste at the bottom of the liquid bowl acts as a natural binder alongside the egg and flour.
- Maintaining a thin layer of oil in a cast-iron skillet ensures conductive heat transfer reaches the entire surface evenly.
- Re-crisp leftover pancakes on a wire rack set inside a 350 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes to restore interior steam and exterior crunch.
Properly stored fried disks keep in a sealed container for up to three days before the starches retrograde completely. Reheating them via dry heat reactivates the lipid layer on the exterior surface.
