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Maybe you’ve seen grease-fire videos circling on social media, and now the thought of frying in a lot of oil makes you anxious. Or, perhaps you’ve tried frying at home and ended up with an oil-splattered kitchen. For those reasons and many more, most home cooks tackle frying a few times a year, if that.
It’s a technique worth practicing and, this time of year, one you may have to. For those who celebrate Hanukkah, which begins Sunday evening, consuming foods fried in oil commemorates the miracle of how a day’s supply of oil for the Temple’s menorah burned for eight, and many cooks choose to honor this by frying mounds of shredded potatoes into latkes.
A few years ago, to balance latkes’ richness with acidity and brininess, I decided to add some finely sliced pickles to the potatoes. The resulting latkes were irresistibly bright and memorable — so much so that I look forward to making them every year.
Swiping these latkes through tangy sour cream highlights the bright acidity of the pickles inside.Credit…Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
They’re not very hard to make — and worth the effort of frying. (For context: If you can bake, you can fry, and the process feels much more approachable if you think of the stovetop pan of hot oil as an oven. The oven uses air to transfer heat, while frying uses oil.)
But, should you still fear the fryer, here are some tips to make these pickle latkes easy and stress-free:
1. Before you fry, understand the essentials.
Choose a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pan to deliver consistent heat at the right temperature: 375 degrees is a nice Goldilocks heat for the oil — not too cold, not too hot. If you don’t have a deep-fry thermometer, add a little latke mixture to the oil. A constant sizzle means you’re good to go. Once the oil reaches the right temperature, reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain it. And, when adding the latkes, don’t crowd the pan, which will cause the temperature to drop abruptly and lead to soggy, greasy latkes.
2. Start with a dry potato mixture.
For crispy, wispy golden-brown latkes, squeezing out as much liquid as possible from the potatoes and onions is crucial. Whether you’re wrapping the vegetables in cheesecloth or a kitchen towel, or using bare hands, press out as much of their juices as you can. Some cooks swear by returning any potato starch that settles at the bottom of the bowl to the potatoes. But, to my mind, it’s neither a must, nor a faux pas: There’s not enough starch to significantly impact the end result. Adding matzo meal, flour or corn, potato or tapioca starch helps absorb any remaining moisture, delivering a crisp bite. When shaping the latkes, give the mixture another squeeze. You’ll be surprised by how much liquid comes out.
3. Add sour pickles — and slice them by hand.
For optimal pickle flavor, choose a sour variety, such as kosher dills, and keep them larger and coarser than the grated potatoes and onions. Grating the pickles alongside the potatoes is very tempting, but it causes the pickles to lose most of their flavor while frying and adds too much liquid to the mix. While it may seem counterintuitive, don’t squeeze the pickles: You want their tart brine, and cutting them into thin matchsticks maintains enough surface area to preserve their flavor.
And about that brine: Don’t waste it. Your freshly fried latkes will taste even better with pickle martinis, pickle margaritas or pickle lemonade.
Pickle brine adds a bracing sharpness to lemonade.Credit…Joel Goldberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
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