Variegated Spiced Latkes Recipe on Food52 (2024)

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

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 teaspoonkosher salt
  
• ¹/₂ teaspoonfresh milled ground fennel seed
  
• ¹/₂ teaspoonfresh milled black pepper
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 3 ouncesflour
  
• peanut or other high smoke point oil
  
• homemade applesauce for serving
  
• sour cream, fa*ge, or creme fraiche for serving