Latkes may be the food most associated with the eight nights and days of Hanukkah, but fried potato pancakes are delicious enough to eat any time of year, especially if you follow the advice of OyBar's Jeff Strauss.
Strauss, the former television writer and producer who not only founded OyBar in Studio City but also Highland Park deli Jeff's Table, takes a global approach to latkes. At its annual Whole Latke Love event, which this year runs through Dec. 20, it invites other chefs like Bridgetown Roti's Rashida Holmes, Ronan's Daniel Cutler, Estrano's Diego Argoti, and former Alta Adams partner and Jaca Social Club founder Daniel Patterson to serve up their own freewheeling versions of latkes.
Recently, Strauss came to The Times Test Kitchen to share what he calls “a very L.A., very OyBar approach” to latkes.
Jeff Strauss, chef and owner of Jeff's Table and OyBar, prepares two varieties of latkes at the LA Times Test Kitchen.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Starting with his tried-and-true basic latke recipe, Strauss showed us two global variants of the potato pancake: a kimchi latke inspired by Los Angeles' Koreatown and another inspired by aloo tikki, the potato burgers sold by many Indian street food vendors. He also prepared sauces for each variation: a quick chutney that mixes a jar of applesauce and a spicy apple-soy sauce.
Of course, none of these global twists would work if Strauss didn't start with a great basic latke. And Strauss is a pro at making crispy, golden potato pancakes.
Fresh from the frying pan, two types of latkes from OyBar chef and owner Jeff Strauss, made in the LA Times Test Kitchen.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
“One thing that's really important in a latke is texture. I like something that's next to a hash brown, rather than kind of a flat, doughy potato pancake.”
The way to get that crispy, lacy texture is to grate the potato by hand into long strips and mix in some shorter strips to help the pancakes cohere.
“You'll be tempted to use a food processor,” says Strauss, who uses the larger holes of a grater for his latkes. “When you use a food processor, two things happen. One, you get a kind of random mush, even if you use the grating blade of the processor. The other thing is that the food processor heats up the potatoes and starts breaking down the structure of the nice potato strips.
“So doing it by hand, taking that extra time and keeping your knuckles away, that's the magic.”
And how do you prevent your knuckles from coming into contact with the grater?
Strauss says finger cuts occur when cooks try to grate each piece of potato. It's best, he says, to leave the last part of the potato unused and take another potato to get the amount you need.
“The moment your knuckles get uncomfortably close to the grater,” he says, “stop. It's a potato. You can let it go.”
One more tip before you start grating: If you have one of those unused melon balls in the back of your utensil drawer, Strauss says you might want to pull it out because it's a great tool for easily removing the “eyes” from potatoes.
Once you have the potato and onion shredded, you'll want to remove as much moisture as possible. Moisture, Strauss insists, is the enemy of potato pancakes.
“A secret to making a perfect latke is to put grated onion and potatoes in cheesecloth,” he says. “Then we're going to twist it and squeeze out as much liquid as we can. That water in there creates dark, unhappy latkes.”
The best way to cook potato pancakes, Strauss says, is to fry them in about a half-inch to a third of an inch of neutral oil. “I like to use a cast iron skillet,” he says, “because it holds heat really well.”
Strauss uses a thermometer to check the oil temperature for readiness; Your goal is 350 degrees. But he also trusts his senses. “If the oil is too cold, you won't hear much sizzling,” he says. “If the oil is too hot, it will really jump, spit, and react very strongly.”
To flip latkes, Strauss likes to use a fish spatula because the oil can pass through the cuts in the spatula, which helps ensure that hot oil doesn't splash on your hand when flipping.
Follow these tips and you'll have happy, golden latkes.
