Sunday night was the last night of Hanukkah so we fired up our electric wok with plenty of oil and made potato latkes. Actually John did all this and I just devoured the crispy potato pancakes. We and our daughter each had four and it was plenty for dinner. There are only two things that we deep fry, potato latkes and scallops. Having something fried is such a guilty pleasure. I am thinking about getting an air fryer so we can enjoy more crispy food.

Potato latkes

• 5 medium russet potatoes (about 2.5–3 lbs total)
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp table salt (technically 1/2 tsp salt per potato, but we rounded up)
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp flour or matzoh meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Lots of vegetable oil for frying
• 1/4 cup olive oil for frying
• kosher salt
• sour cream or applesauce to serve

Important tools are an electric fryer and a food processor with coarse shredding disc.

Wash and dry potatoes; leave skin on. Shred potatoes in food processor. Shred onion in food processor.

Mix potato, egg, onion, salt, pepper, garlic, 2 Tbsp olive oil and flour (or matzoh meal) in large bowl. Add baking soda and stir to combine.

Pour the 1/4 cup olive oil and however much vegetable oil you need in your frying vessel. Heat oil mixture to 375 degrees F. While the oil is heating, occasionally press down on the potato mixture and drain the resulting liquid into another bowl (to discard later).

Take a blob of potato mixture and press out liquid to make a 3-inch disk. Slide carefully into hot oil. Make a batch of 6. Fry until golden brown and delicious (this is an eyeball estimation), turning them occasionally in the oil to cook both sides. Remove to a rack on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt, then move the sheet to a 275 degree oven while you fry the rest of them.

Let oil temperature recover between batches.

This should make 3 batches of 6 latkes each. Serve with sour cream or applesauce. (But really sour cream is the way to go!)