How To Make Latkes Like A Jewish Deli (83 Year Old Recipe)

[@hambo199]

"I don't know how every Jewish grandma doesn't have carpel tunnel after this" That's the secret Adam: they've always had carpel tunnel. The suffering is what gives it extra FLAVOR. LOL. Haha no in all seriousness dude this was fun to watch. All your videos are bangers. Really enjoy getting insight into Chicago history and your experience from where you are as a cook/chef, along with all the different foods and ethnicities that all coalesced in that region historically.

[@icecreamrollscraze]

These latkes look absolutely incredible! Love how he digs into the history at Manny's and shows their unique meat grinder technique. Those massive, crispy potato pancakes with the spoon-created ridges are genius - definitely not your typical thin and wimpy latkes. The double-fry method is next level too. His simple homemade applesauce is such a nice touch, and that surf-wave of toppings at the end made me hungry. Totally agree these should be served year-round, not just at Hanukkah! Adding this recipe to my must-try list.

[@AdamWitt]

Thanks you! Normalize the latke-ification of all Jewish holidays!

[@benjamingoldberg9372]

My trick is to pour the liquid off from the water drained out of the shredded potato to get the pure potato starch that is left on the bottom. Then I mix that back into the potatoes and puree half of the shred for more fluffiness. Thanks for the vid!

[@Flowing_Water]

Yes. I was surprised not to see Will do that. Another trick is put the shredded potatoes in a colander with salt and let them drain. Then just squeeze big handfuls and toss into the mixing bowl. No need to get cheesecloth dirty. I sometimes don't drain the onions - keeps the oniony flavor. Matzo meal is preferred over all-purpose flour, but hey - whatever.

[@robylove9190]

I'm not Jewish but my family has eaten latkes my whole life. We eat them year round. My mother and grandmother always called them potato pancakes.

[@prccap]

love the ones we have been making for generations. biggest difference is that the potatoes need to be grated on the smallest side of the grater. it looks more like actual pancake batter. then they are cooked super thin. a normal serving for me is around 20 of them

[@dee_dee_place]

Adam- As a kid of 10, I used to help my Mom make latkas for Chanukah. I used a meat grinder screwed onto the side of a kitchen counter with a deep bowl placed on a bar stool under the grinder to make the potatoes & onions.

[@AdamWitt]

Very cool

[@toddveden5302]

My moms side is straight up Polish, and we used to have latkes all the time. Love em... Merry Belated Christmas, dude!

[@AdamWitt]

Dopeee. same to you mate.

[@toddveden5302]

@AdamWitt Definitely, gonna try your recipe..... thanks dude!!!!

[@avivat3010]

A friend of mine makes latkas like this but microwaves the potatoes a little first. I've never tried that. I prefer thinner latkas because I like the crunch almost all the way through - more flavour. We always had apple sauce and sour cream on the table and used both. I like having different food for each holiday to put an accent on the special traditions for each. That doesn't mean you can't have latkas as a special treat outside of Hanukkah, just not during other holidays' dinners. Thanks for all of the fantastic tips!

[@JamieHaDov]

Re: latkes and matzoball soup at other holidays - 100%. Latkes are perfect for pesach and I literally made matzoball soup for the shabbat during hanukkah.

[@JakeLovesSteak]

Deep fried potatoes are always a good thing, no matter what shape they are.

[@AdamWitt]

preach!

[@serenaspottedelk1974]

I feel like caviar would be an amazing addition topping! With the creme fraise

[@alexlock3176]

Sour cream 100%. Banger latkes... technique reminds me of Barney Greengrass in NYC

[@birdy4life]

In my humble opinion it only needs salt if it needs sour cream it ain't a good latke

[@graefx]

Tangent. Best advice i ever got for making falafel was to use a meat grinder on the rehydrated chickpeas. Never looked back.

[@AdamWitt]

ooo nice

[@GregCurtin45]

My mother has Danish/Polish background and she made her potato pancakes flat like a crepe, cooked in Crisco shortening. I don't use Crisco as I can do unhealthy without intentionally adding vegetable shortening. I have tried a few times to make them but it didn't turn out like mom's. Love your recipe and directions. Definitely sour cream over apple sauce. but I think they are best with just a bit of butter 'smeared' over top.

[@baldieman64]

Try beef dripping. Not much beats it for frying potato.

[@powerofseven10]

Happy Hanukkah Adam !

[@jaycrushalot]

I feel the same with Italian wedding(Christmas) soup that should be at every holiday event

[@ericwiesel89]

Happy hannukah brother

[@AdamWitt]

same to you

[@ericwiesel89]

Adam, non passover matzoh ball soup is called Friday night chicken soup with knaidel balls 😎

[@AdamWitt]

Love the loophole.

[@The_Original_Big_Daddy]

Adam, really nice video and method! It's been a minute since I've had a good Latke and I look forward to making these soon. I have a grinder, so I think I'll try it the Manny's way.

[@AdamWitt]

hell yeah!

[@Berkana]

10:04 the apple sauce need not brown, but you have to use the right kind of blender. Have you heard of a vacuum blender before? The device has an air pump that sucks all the air out of the jar before blending. It's a new genre of blender, and there are already three or four brands of this kind of blender, last I checked. When the air is removed, no oxygen gets blended into the sauce, so the sauce won't oxidize anywhere but maybe the surface.

[@WilliamKShank]

Can I come over every time you cook??? 😆 Safe Journey! Have a great day!!!

[@niclawrenceRS]

Latkes are served every Friday night at pretty much every Friday night fish fry in Wisconsin. Apple sauce included.

[@JohnHausser]

Hey Adam Just discovered your channel yesterday! Looks awesome 👏 😎

[@AdamWitt]

Yo! Thanks dude. Welcome in.

[@EliezerRedlich]

If you shred the potatoes and onions together they don’t turn pink/brown

[@loriloristuff]

110% correct.

[@luxobscuras5582]

True, and I also like to add garlic powder/grated garlic to get more flavor

[@bronowiczj]

Which one first? Alternating the grating between the onion and potato?

[@victorialw1]

True. Onions are higher in vitamin c than citrus. It's the citric acid that helps retain the color.

[@h.s.levine2932]

You haven’t made latkes, you’ve made potato muffins!

[@MegaJman117]

the best kinda latkes are the latkes you have, but i do say I prefer a thin and crispy latke

[@kjcbunny]

happy Hanukah adam :)

[@AdamWitt]

you too!

[@yitziyyb]

Now we're talking!!

[@ep4704]

This makes me soooo hungry just watching. 🤤

[@michaelkramarczykjr8196]

Hey man. Just (finally, and shamefully) coughed up my like and sub to you. From the burbs of chitown but been in Phoenix for a couple decades Love your vids. Been making your giardiniera for over a year... i think. Well... its been a while for sure. This is the side that i will be putting next to my steak oscar ive got planned for new years eve. Thanks for all you do.

[@AdamWitt]

I'm honored. Welcome. Thanks Michael. I hope your NYE feast goes crazy.

[@rand8530]

My grandparents were German Jews. These were just potato pancakes served all year. I never heard of a latke until second grade. Grandma also added some green onion and dill.

[@IanRobinett]

I'm not Jewish but my FAVORITE thing at any Jewish establishment is latkes, lox, red onions, capers, and cream cheese! Oh and typically the free pickles that I've gotten at some places as well.

[@domeskeetz]

I have never heard latkes pronounced that way. Interesting !

[@AdamWitt]

It's strange. Where I grew up most people call them "lat-kees", but when I go literally anywhere else everyone says "lat-kuhs". V interesting, you're right.

[@neil_chazin]

In Chicago Latkeys, elsewhere latkas.

[@spaghelle]

I’ve never had success with thick ones like these but I do agree with the multi liquid squeeze effort. I usually also serve mine with smoked salmon , dill and sesame seeds plus chives / green onion but I am a Jewish mama over here. If we don’t have salmons and dill is it really a holiday?

[@loriloristuff]

Laktes and Hanukkah: THE OIL THEY ARE FRIED IN!!!!! The oil when the Trmple was cleansed and redeciated lasted EIGHT days, remember? Also oil on the veg, fried chicken, Bismark donuts fried, fried honey balls...

[@Berkana]

@AdamWitt re: 9:39 I have a suggestion for coring apples: use a melon baller. Nobody balls melons anymore, but if you'll notice, the scoop on a melon baller is exactly the size of an apple core. You end up losing less usable apple flesh when you core an apple using a melon baller.

[@neil_chazin]

Latkes are the best, love them so much, but cooking them not so much - only reason I don’t have them more often.

[@MrBenfranz]

And hell yeah Latkes should be available at Rosh HaShana, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Purim, Passover, Shavuot as well as Chanuka.

[@kellycarroll6829]

Mazel tov and hallelujah!🌟

[@Lettuce-and-Tomatoes]

Manny’s latkes are quite a bit more yellow on the inside. Do you have any ideas on why that is? I’m guessing it’s either due to them using turmeric or more egg yolks than you did. Please let me know if you have any ideas on this conundrum. Cool video, Adam!!!

[@AdamWitt]

That's a proprietary thing that go into the batter. I will ALWAYS share with you the tips and tricks I learn and pickup along the way in my videos, however, out of respect for the restaurants I visit, if asked to not share something then I won't. I hope you understand!

[@sarahr7890]

Happy Chanukah. I prefer a big shred and smaller size. But who's gonna complain? :)

[@jstaffordii]

Down South we would call those hash browns. I would want ketchup and hot sauce. No disrespect intended to our Jewish friends.

[@AdamWitt]

I put hot sauce on my latkes xD

[@JamieHaDov]

I’m a “both applesauce and sour cream” guy but my fave topping is sour cream and matbucha

[@tryingveganwithmario]

Manny’s was epic when I was a kid

[@AdamWitt]

Mario! Sup.

[@jakekovach1972]

Hey, whats your story man? Id love to read it somewhere if you have it written down in a blog or something. Are you trained as a chef or are you a food enthusiast who took it to the next level? Either way man your content is always fire. I cant believe that you don't have a more mainstream form of youtube revenue to take it to the next level. (If you ever wanted to.) Either way as always keep it awesomesauce as you usually do. Edit: Spelling

[@AdamWitt]

Hey dude. I was a private chef for a few years and cooked around a bit. This whole thing is really just driven by curiosity and my love for cooking/experimenting. If interested you can peep my little blurb about how I got here: www.adamwitt.co/yo-im-adam

[@garycraigart3579]

I just discovered your channel because I love and make double-crust CPP. Also, you are cute :-)

[@Alabastergirl]

Any healthier oil to use?

[@armandfleming2371]

I'm team sour cream, but I really want to try your method for making apple sauce!

[@irishmage]

What do you do with the oil after frying. Seems be a waste to just dump.How do you dispose of it?

[@AdamWitt]

cool, strain, reuse a couple times until dirty. Then cool, dispose in storage container and trash. I think I made a short about this a while ago - could be on the channel somewhere. If not on IG or TT.

[@gill6470]

I soak my potatoes in lemon water. Salt pepper two eggs matzah meal and self rising flour. We prefer thin and crispy

[@TheLippythelion69]

hey brother tossing it out you ever read Tom Brady$ book wonder if you can do a work around! i made his veggie lasagna! tastes fantastic but it takes work think you can dumb it down just a thought thanks happy new year love the channel 🤘👍

[@dennyo7798]

Second fry, did you lower the depth of oil too?

[@cphoover11]

I like both sour cream and apple sauce on my latkes

[@georgemeyer8352]

How are these different from a knish? Do you have a knish recipe?

[@CeriEAV]

If I need to make them gluten free can I just use more potato starch? Thanks!

[@AdamWitt]

Yeah you totally can, I did it for my mom. They might not color as nicely as the flour from the lack of protein, but they;ll get crisp AF if you fry them long enough.

[@MrBenfranz]

I like my latkes with Apple Sauce and Black Pepper Ketchup.

[@michellebarnes7640]

I always deep fry my latkes because I have a Dutch oven set up for frying for a week 😅

[@kp126]

Going to make an indian version of this. We sort of have this in our culture already but this gave me ideas of how to improve them through texture and technique.

[@AdamWitt]

Pakoras. mmm.

[@MrVovansim]

I prefer thinner latkes. The thing that worries me about the chunky boys is that the potato in the middle won't cook through. Nothing worse than biting into a potato pancake that's crunchy... on the inside!

[@EliezerRedlich]

You gotta cook the apples

[@AdamWitt]

Over the years I've realized you really don't.

[@AdamWitt]

cooked and spiced apple sauce is delicious and a different thing and, honestly, are probably good on latkes. But the raw deal is beautiful and is super nice on the fried taters.

[@yitziyyb]

Instead of putting on potato starch and throwing out all that potato water, wait 5 min and spill out the water and you have all that starch from the potato's hardened at the bottom!!

[@kenm.2793]

i miss Christkindlmarket so bad 🥺

[@theresataylor1565]

You, slinging for 30 years?!? You look barely 25!!! Don't matter, you make wonderful things!!

[@jonhillman871]

this recipe looks great. but i need storage and reheating instructions.

[@yah_wereintherockies]

I like sour cream the mores.

[@joshuarosen465]

Hand grating is best, i use a flat grater. The grater on a KitchenAid mixer also works better than a food processor. As for flour, NO NO NO. Use matzo meal. I buy extra boxes of Streits matzo meal every Passover so that i have it all year round. Fry in chicken fat if you can get it, I haven't been able to buy chicken fat in years so i use avocado oil or corn oil but its definitely lacking when compared to chicken fat. One more thing. Sweet potatos, especially Japanese sweet potatoes, make great latkes and they are healthier also.

[@sarahr7890]

Schmaltz does make them even more delish. And yes to the matzo meal!

[@nossonkamins7708]

I prefer no added flour or matza meal

[@MrMaws]

YES!!!! 🕎🕎🕎🕎 Chag sameach!!!

[@CantankerousDave]

“If there’s one thing we Jews *accelerate* at”? Excel, dude. Excel.

[@AdamWitt]

I can't read, you must be new.

[@yitziyyb]

It's not Latkee, it's Latka 😅

[@AdamWitt]

tomato tomata

[@yitziyyb]

@AdamWitt 😜

[@JohnDoryPsh]

To be iconic, someone else has to have heard of them, and then revere them.

[@AdamWitt]

point proven

[@AmirhoseinHerandy]

Lot keys

[@dizzyspellzduh]

Mf just said crispy frisbo’s

[@AdamWitt]

chyee

[@caseymccoy2087]

You lost my interest when you used canola oil .

[@Me-ev4ix]

I like ketchup with tobacco mixed in it and a side of applesauce.

[@gibberishname]

the only thing worse than applesauce on a latke is ruining a delicious sour cream latke by having both applesauce AND sour cream

[@AdamWitt]

disagree

[@PaleHorseO.o]

Ketchup like you do with hash browns at Waffle House. You are so silly and Jewish. Also, you talk funny.

[@AdamWitt]

philistines stand up!