. . . Time for Latkes With a Little Daikon Radish

I come from a blended family, both Japanese and Jewish, which explains my variation on the traditional Hanukkah potato pancake by adding elements of the Japanese fried pancake called okonomiyaki. 

So  I was quite excited to see in The New York Times that someone had started a whole restaurant dedicated to a type of fusion cuisine with which I feel a deep bond. 

This is an article about cooking for the holidays, by the way, in case you’re wondering where this is all leading. 

The restaurant, if you’re interested, is called Shalom Japan. I checked its menu and decided, in the end, that it was a little too modern-fancy for me (the matzo ball ramen soup sounded appealing but there was an awful lot of kale and various seeds and grains that seemed too hip for me). So I probably won’t be making the journey to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, any time soon.

But this much I can do. My personal holiday favorite combination of Japanese and Jewish is to leave the latke more or less in its pure form but use some Japanese techniques and ingredients to make it even better in a kind of subtle and unobtrusive way. 

I have told the story many times about the first time I tried to make latkes on my own. My mother in Chicago sent a fax to my office in New York with instructions. Now even though my name was not listed on the fax, my coworkers knew it was meant for me. 

“Who else,” they asked, “would get a recipe that said, ‘Use long chopsticks to flip the latkes as they get brown.’”

My Japanification of the traditional latke dish that I have been recommending for years is to grate some Japanese daikon and a tart apple such as a Granny Smith in with the potatoes and onions. The apples and daikon add crispness and they also don’t absorb as much oil as the potatoes do. That means the finished dish is less greasy, and it also means you use less oil while you’re cooking (anyone who has ever run out of oil while making latkes knows how annoying that can be). 

I generally do not use a recipe for latkes, but I am including here a recipe from the always perfect Ina Garten, updated with my own additions. 

No matter how much you use of whatever ingredients  you include, be sure to let the potatoes rest in a colander for at least an hour after you shred them. If you’ve never done it before, you’ll be amazed by how much liquid they shed. 

Latkes á la Japonaise

Adapted from Ina Garten

Enough for two or three people

Two large Yukon Gold potatoes, half of a large onion, a two-inch knob of daikon, one Granny Smith or other tart apple, one large egg, beaten, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, canola or some other healthy but not strongly flavored oil.

There are those who grate their potatoes in a food processor. I personally have never figured out exactly how to do that, and so I use a box grater. Grating by hand also has the advantage of discouraging you from making too many latkes. (They are like potato chips; if you keep putting them on the table, people will keep eating them, until they are ill). 

Grate the potatoes, apple, onion and daikon together into a large colander and let it all drain for about an hour or more. Squeeze the mixture out periodically, because some of the liquid will sit on top unless you force it out.

Latkes taste best if they are eaten moments after they are cooked. When you and your guests are ready, heat up about half an inch of oil in a deep frying pan or skillet. 

Combine the potato mixture with the egg and then toss in the flour and spices until everything is fully coated. Check that the oil is ready (if you splash a tiny bit of water on the oil it should dance).

As with breakfast pancakes, the first latke will not be perfect. Make one smallish latke, being sure to leave it on its first side until it browns. Raise the heat if it takes more than a couple minutes to brown. 

Have a platter ready that is lined with a page or two of newspaper, topped with lots of paper towels. 

Flip your latke, brown it on its second side, and then put it on the paper-towel-covered platter so it can shed some oil. You can taste this one to see if it’s properly seasoned. 

Then make a second batch, this time putting three or so latkes in your skillet (don’t make them too big; a few inches across is plenty big enough. And don’t make them too thick or the center won’t cook nicely). 

Serve them as you cook them; or keep them hot in the oven if you have to. I think most people eat them with apple sauce and sour cream. I prefer to serve them with fresh cranberry dressing, the kind you make yourself from the recipe on the Ocean Spray bag, adding some orange zest for flavor. Latkes are also excellent with smoked salmon and perhaps some chives and a little sour cream or crème fraîche.

 And if you have some daikon left over, serve it in slices on the side. It helps to digest all that oil.