Fry

Variegated Spiced Latkes

Name: Variegated Spiced Latkes
Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients: 1 sweet potato, pared (about 1 cup); 1 parsnip, pared (about 1/2 cup); 1 yellow onion (@1/2 cup); 2-3 russet potatoes (or yukon gold) (@2 cups); 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated (@1 oz); 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon fresh milled ground fennel seed; 1/2 teaspoon fresh milled black pepper; 2 eggs, beaten; 3 ounces flour; peanut or other high smoke point oil; homemade applesauce for serving; sour cream, fage, or creme fraiche for serving

by: Sagegreen

November 19, 2010

2 Ratings

Photo by Bobbi Lin

Serves 4-6

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

With a decade of experimentation making latkes, my favorites are made from a combination of russet potatoes, sweet potato, parsnip, yellow onion and fresh ginger. I like the addition of fresh milled pepper and fennel. Peanut oil is best for frying these if you want that golden crunchy brown on the outside without such fear of charring. If you have allergies, you want to use a substitute oil with a high smoke point. Of course there is always schmaltz; I probably shaved years off my life using a goose fat version, for frying, while I lived in Germany, but I am staying away from that now. I also love serving these with sour cream and homemade applesauce. If you have kosher company, (or are kosher) you can't mix sour cream with the use of animal fat....so another good reason to stay away. - Sagegreen —Sagegreen

Test Kitchen Notes

We love the lacy, tangled appearance of these deep golden latkes. The mix of sweet potato, unpeeled Russets and parsnip keeps the pancakes from being stodgy, and the fennel and fresh ginger tickle your tongue in the most pleasant of ways. It may seem like Sagegreen calls for an awful lot of flour, but there's no trace of that raw flour taste once these guys are fried. These latkes are great with sour cream and applesauce, but they're also pretty addictive with nothing more than a shower of fine sea salt. - A&M —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved
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What You'll Need

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, pared (about 1 cup)
1 parsnip, pared (about 1/2 cup)
1 yellow onion (@1/2 cup)
2-3 russet potatoes (or yukon gold) (@2 cups)
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated (@1 oz)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¹/₂ teaspoon fresh milled ground fennel seed
¹/₂ teaspoon fresh milled black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
3 ounces flour
peanut or other high smoke point oil
homemade applesauce for serving
sour cream, fage, or creme fraiche for serving

Directions

Hand grate the sweet potato, onion, and parsnip using the large holes into a large bowl first. I think hand grating is the only way to go for these.
Wash and scrub the russet potatoes very well, leaving the skins on. Remove any imperfections. Grate these last into the bowl with the other vegetables. Add the salt, pepper, fennel, and ginger. Let rest a few minutes.
Using a colander (or cheesecloth if you prefer) wring all the excess moisture from the mix. Repeat, then return to the bowl. You can also squeeze handfuls of the mix in your hands to help.
Mix in the beaten eggs and flour.
Generously coat the bottom of a heavy pan with peanut oil (or other suitable oil). The oil need not be deeper than 1/8 inch, if even that. If you prefer thicker latkes, then you might have up to1/4 inch oil. Heat to medium high until a drop of liquid would sizzle in the pan.
Working in small batches ladle the mix to the heated pan to form 5-7 latkes with about a 3 inch diameter and about a 1/4 inch thickness after pressing down gently on the mix with a spatula. Fry each one on one side until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side until golden. Try to keep the depth of oil as low as possible, but make sure the vegetables cook through- soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Drain on paper towels. You should have 15-20 latkes from this recipe.
Serve warm with generous dollops of sour cream and preferably homemade heirloom applesauce.

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134 Reviews

Summer +. December 2, 2018

I have made this recipe a number of times and keep coming back to it, delicious! I love sneaking in different forms of veggies and I love the ginger. I don't really understand the traditionalist comments - this is clearly a variation and a great one at that! The only edits I make are food processor shredding (with an attachment top on mine..) of the veggies because I'm lazy and it works great. I also sub GF flour blend for the flour with great results! Thank you for sharing @sagegreen!

Sagegreen December 2, 2018

Thanks so much. It’s the perfect time to make these, too!

TFried November 26, 2013

I'm going to try these tomorrow for Thanksgivikkah, but my MIL is gluten free. Any thoughts/has anybody tried making these with a gluten free flour substitute? Anything I should keep in mind? Anything else I need to add to replace all the gluteny goodness?

Summer +. December 2, 2018

Hi! I always sub a gluten free flour blend when making this and get great results!

Rachel S. December 20, 2012

We enjoy trying different kinds of latkes so I decided to give these a try. Honestly, they were ok but I won't be making them again. One person felt they were an Indian food inspired latkes. I love ginger but I discovered not in my latkes. I guess I'm a traditionalist because my favorite continues to be the latkes I grew up with - Kyeftes de Prasa (leek/potato latkes) - I'm of Sephardic heritage. Thanks for something new to try!

Sagegreen December 25, 2012

Thanks for giving this a go. Your leek and potato combination do sound classic.

1172 C. December 22, 2011

I made these last night for Hanukkah and they were a big hit! Thank you.

Sagegreen December 22, 2011

So glad you liked them. Thanks for sharing!

Sagegreen November 14, 2011

Opps. I wanted to add Hanukkah as a category for this recipe, but guess it needs to be done by the editors now.

hardlikearmour November 14, 2011

Since it's a winning recipe you can't edit it, even to add tags. I'm sure if you e-mail the editors they would gladly add Hanukkah as a tag!

mboerner October 3, 2011

Ginger with latkes? What happened to authentic taste?

TiggyBee October 3, 2011

mboerner, you need to try these, because they're really delicious! I've made them a few times and they never disappoint.

Bevi October 4, 2011

Scroll down to see Sagegreen make this recipe on a cooking show filmed in her local area.

Sagegreen October 4, 2011

Thanks, folks! You know if you didn't want the ginger, you could simply leave that out, or use less, as Bevi suggests. But I happen to like results of the blend of vegetables and spices in this recipe and am really happy others have too! Of course, an authentic basic latke recipe is a classic to savor.

mboerner October 3, 2011

Ginger with latkes? What happened to authentic taste?

Bevi October 4, 2011

I also made these. They ARE really delicious. You can also decrease the amount of ginger you use.

Erin P. May 8, 2011

I made these with the sweet and spicy horseradish sauce, http://www.food52.com/recipes/3544_sweet_and_spicy_horseradish_dressing, and they were a smash hit! Soo good Sagegreen!

And Thanks food52 for a great food site!

Sagegreen May 8, 2011

Thanks so much flavorfarm. What a great combination you made with the horseradish recipe. I will have to try that out, too.

LloJo January 20, 2011

Cool video!!!! Reminded me I need to make these again. So nice to see you!

Sagegreen May 8, 2011

Many thanks. EDL!

Sagegreen January 19, 2011

Here is a link to a video from a local TV show where we created these live on January 19, 2011 with Channel 22 Mass Appeal under their taste appeal segment: