00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with potato chip latkes.
00:08That's right, this video was supposed to be a fun hack for an easy no work method to make
00:12potato pancakes.
00:14But what this actually became is a video recipe for how to make the best potato pancakes I've
00:19ever had.
00:20And I know that does sound crazy, but it is 100% true.
00:24And to get started, the first thing we'll need to do is crush up some potato chips.
00:29And what I recommend here is the classic kettle style chip, which contains no seasoning other
00:33than sea salt.
00:34And while you can, of course, crush up any potato chip you want, the kind I used were
00:39perfect, so I would go with that.
00:42And by the way, there might be better ways to exfoliate your hands, but this has to be
00:45the most delicious way.
00:48But anyway, we're going to need one cup of potato chips, crushed up just like this, which
00:52is fairly fine.
00:54And once those are set, we will add one large egg to a bowl, along with some whole milk,
01:00as well as a little splash of cold fresh water.
01:03We will also need some all-purpose flour, a little bit of baking powder, no not baking
01:08soda, baking powder, as well as a touch of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and
01:15of course, a few shakes of cayenne, and then we'll finish up with about a tablespoon of
01:19minced onion.
01:20Okay, anything will work, and I ended up using the light parts of a scallion.
01:25And then what we'll do is give this a thorough and thoughtful whisking, until we have everything
01:29evenly combined, at which point we'll add in our crushed potato chips, along with a
01:35couple more shakes of cayenne, because I either forgot I added it earlier, or I wanted a little
01:40more.
01:41And which one was it?
01:43Well, I'd rather not say.
01:46And that's it.
01:47We'll take a spoon and give this a mix.
01:48And yes, this mixture is going to be very loose, and very liquidy, and way too wet to
01:53make latkes with, but that's okay, because what we're going to do after this is mixed,
01:58is wrap it up, and pop it in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes, and during that time the
02:03starches are going to soak up the liquid, and as you can see as we unwrap this and give
02:07it a stir, things will have thickened up substantially, and if everything goes according to plan,
02:13we should be looking at something that looks like a traditional potato pancake batter.
02:17And once that is ready to use, we will head to the stove, and we'll divide that into
02:21four equal, somewhat round portions, on top of some vegetable oil that we have set over
02:26medium heat, and yes, of course you can use the fat of your choice, and by the way, don't
02:32waste too much time trying to fine-tune the shape.
02:35Okay, personally, I do not trust a perfectly round potato pancake, so for these just kind
02:40of round is fine, and what we'll do is let those fry on medium for about 4 minutes, or
02:46until the bottom is nicely browned before we flip them over, and you know what, I really
02:50should have peaked, since these look pretty good, but I would prefer them to be a little
02:54bit browner.
02:56So as you'll see, once this second side browns, I'm going to flip them back over to get a
03:00little more color on that first side, and you should always feel free to do the same.
03:05I mean, you are after all the Lenore Ryan of your potato chip latke frying, and by the
03:10way, Lenore was a chef at Ryan's Cafe, where I used to work, who did an amazing brunch,
03:15and served an amazing potato pancake, and I have a feeling she would have loved these.
03:21So once that side browned for about 3 or 4 minutes, I flipped them back over, and yes,
03:26that right there is the exact amount of browning I think we want.
03:29So after flipping, I let those go for another minute or so, until I was completely thrilled
03:34with how both sides looked, and that's it.
03:36Once done, we'll remove those to a paper towel to drain a little bit, before we go ahead
03:40and plate those up any way we want.
03:43And the way I think you really, really want to do these, is top first with a nice spoon
03:48of applesauce, followed by a nice dollop of sour cream, or creme fraiche, or even plain
03:54yogurt is really nice with these.
03:57And that's it, after double dolloping the tops, I went ahead and finished up with some
04:01freshly snipped chives, which of course went places I didn't want them to go.
04:06So after scattering, I moved some around, and took way too many pictures, before I grabbed
04:11a fork to go in for the official taste, and that my friends, like I said in the intro,
04:16was the best bite of potato pancake I've ever had.
04:20These have the exact same texture as a classic latke, but with a more pronounced, more intense
04:25potato flavor, which makes sense because we use nice fried crispy potatoes to make these
04:30with, so I was confident these were going to taste amazing, but what I didn't anticipate
04:36was how incredibly perfect the texture was going to be, which I will admit took a couple
04:40test batches, but I did eventually figure out the right amount of liquid, and I'm so
04:45happy, and I think you're going to be so happy I did.
04:49And of course, you go ahead and serve your latkes any way you want, but for me, you cannot
04:53beat the combination of applesauce, sour cream, and chive, right, that really does make for
04:58a literally perfect pairing, but no matter how you serve yours, this is way, way more
05:04than just a time-saving hack, and whether you make these for Hanukkah, or just to serve
05:09at your next brunch, they really were the best I've ever had, which is why I really
05:13do hope you give these a try soon.
05:16So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
05:21more info as usual, and as always, enjoy!
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