Fry

Persimmon Latkes

by:
January 18, 2013
5
1 Ratings
Persimmon Latkes
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 10 latkes
Author Notes

I love the floral, perfumy undertones of persimmon. In this dish, they are the key ingredient, and with a touch of spices they alchemize the everyday potato latkes into an entirely different experience. —QueenSashy

Test Kitchen Notes

The ingredients for this dish are simple but the mixture tastes heavenly. Using firm, unpeeled persimmons is truly a genius idea. Cumin is absolutely necessary for this recipe and provides the finished dish with a nice spice. As a note, the potato starch we saved for the mixture was not enough, and the mixture didn't hold together on the first few tries. I added a bit (around two teaspoons) of cornstarch and it worked much better. —Tokyo bakephile

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 small yellow potatoes (about 12 oz)
  • 2 firm Fuyu persimmons (about 9oz)
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 small garlic clove, mashed
  • 1 pinch cumin (1/4 teaspoon or less)
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • Salt and pepper
  • Oil, for frying
Directions
  1. Peel the potatoes and grate them coarsely, by hand or in a food processor. Let the potatoes rest for a couple of minutes and then squeeze excess water by hand. Reserve the water in a small bowl and leave it for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour off all the liquid from the bowl, but leave the white potato starch that settled on the bottom.
  2. Grate the persimmons (without peeling them).
  3. In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, persimmons, starch, eggs, cumin, nutmeg, garlic, salt and pepper.
  4. In a large skillet heat the oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture per latke into the skillet, spreading into flat rounds with a fork. (Do not overcrowd the skillet.) Reduce heat to medium and fry the latkes until undersides are dark golden, about four to five minutes. Using a spatula carefully turn the latkes over (be gentle as there is no flour in the mixture and they will be prone to breaking easily) and fry until undersides are dark golden, about four to five minutes more. Transfer the latkes to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately.
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  • adele93
    adele93
  • BoulderGalinTokyo
    BoulderGalinTokyo
  • fiveandspice
    fiveandspice
  • QueenSashy
    QueenSashy
QueenSashy
Aleksandra aka QueenSashy is a scientist by day, and cook, photographer and doodler by night. When she is not writing code and formulas, she blogs about food, life and everything in between on her blog, Three Little Halves. Three Little Halves was nominated for 2015 James Beard Awards and the finalist for 2014 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. Aleksandra lives in New York City with her other two halves, Miss Pain and Dr. V.

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9 Reviews

clintonhillbilly
clintonhillbilly December 7, 2015
These are awesome! The persimmon gives the latkes a delicious sweet undertone. I couldn't really imagine what they would taste like before making them but we loved them and will definitely make them on Channukah in the future.
 
adele93
adele93 February 25, 2013
what country do Fuyu persimmons originate from?
 
QueenSashy
QueenSashy February 25, 2013
According to Google, it dates back to ancient China.
 
BoulderGalinTokyo
BoulderGalinTokyo February 25, 2013
Fuyu means 'winter' in Japanese which is the season the persimmon fruit becomes ripe. Hachiya is also a Japanese persimmon with a different usage/taste profile.
 
adele93
adele93 February 26, 2013
thank you :)
 
BoulderGalinTokyo
BoulderGalinTokyo February 11, 2013
Congrats on your CP! Will try in the fall when persimmons are plentiful!
 
QueenSashy
QueenSashy February 12, 2013
Thank you! Same here -- I wanted to try all the great recipes from the contest, but it will have to wait until persimmons are back in season.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice January 22, 2013
This is such a cool idea!
 
QueenSashy
QueenSashy January 23, 2013
Thank you!