First things first: The very first time I had potato pancakes I was a little kid, so the only thing I actually heard was “pancakes”. This meant that they didn’t taste how I expected them to and I hated them. If they had told me these were really just fancy hashbrowns I would have probably had a different experience. Anyway, these are quite good, now that I’m an Old Person and can better appreciate these things.
A caveat before we get started: I’m sure the assumption from this recipe of my grandmother’s is that I should use russet potatoes. However, I don’t like peeling the thick skins off, so I used red potatoes. You do what you want.
Here’s what you’ll need:
4 Med. Potatoes, grated
½ Cup Flour
½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 Eggs, separated
Oil for frying
Mix together potatoes, flour, baking powder, salt and egg yolks.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.
Heat ¼ inch of oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot (but not smoking) drop batter by the ¼ cup and flatten with a spatula until the pancakes are ½ inch thick.
Fry, turning once, until golden brown.
Remove pancakes and place on a plate or casserole dish lined with paper towels to drain.
These are typically served with sour cream or applesauce. However, I will be freezing these and using them to make my breakfast burritos.
Oh, my goodness, those look delicious. Send me some, okay?
Those look nice.
Oh man, those look great.
I had a similar experience with Olives (my 10 year old self thought they were grapes.)
Latkes!
My mom makes these too, but uses Tempera batter instead of the traditional egg batter (no Yolks.)
I was just going to ask if these are the same as Latkes.
Basically, yes, but I would not be so bold as to call my Catholic, German grandmother’s potato pancakes, Latkes.