Blessed by the Potato

Yield: Breakfast for 2

Ingredients:

5 normal sized potatoes
1 small-medium sized white onion
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Beat together the milk, egg, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Peel and rinse the potatoes. Grate the potatoes with a cheese grater onto a surface or into another bowl.
3. Squeeze the grated potatoes to remove excess water. This is disgusting (you’ll see when you try it). Add the grated, squeezed potatoes to the bowl.
4. Chop the onion as fine as you can without losing fingers, add it to the mixture.
5. Mix it all together, preheat the frying pan.
6. Spoon the mixture onto the frying pan in a thin layer, and press with a spatula to get it to stick together and form more of a patty (it’s not a burger, so you’re not committing a sin by pressing it). Cook until golden brown, flip, and cook the other side likewise.

A few notes on method:

The latkas will stick together much better if the potatoes are well-wrung of their excess liquid. And those suckers hold a lot, you’d never imagine until you try it. I just grab a fistful and squeeze over a bowl, but if you have a well-equipped kitchen larger than your parents’ walk-in closet, you might just have a special device to help you do this. Unfortunately, I don’t have one, and can’t think of what it’s called.

I like my food to have subtle flavour (a style of cooking known by many as “bland”) so I only use one small white onion in this recipe. Feel free to add more; right up to the point where you have equal onion and potato if you prefer stronger flavours and have a strong resistance against the eye-watering properties. Unlike hash browns/home fries, you do not precook the potatoes.

All the girls I know like these with sour cream or cottage cheese. I myself prefer them with salt and ketchup. Top them however you like and enjoy.

Comments:

I’ve also seen these spelled “Potato Latkes” and I’m not sure which is correct. Wayfare loves having these for breakfast, though I don’t really see why. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never considered them “super fantastic”, and considering that afterwards you’ll have a cutting board, peeler, knife, cheese grater, bowl, frying pan and flipper to wash (as well as plates, cups, etc.) I often don’t see the benefit. It’s a different story when making them for lunch, as dishes don’t seem so complicated as they do in the morning, but then I guess nothing does…