I am always looking for new ways to use up potatoes. Usually I will just boil them in salt water (Salzkartoffeln), which is surprisingly good. I also mash them up to make mashed potatoes or fry them up with some sausage and onions. Nothing particularly creative. Today, though, I thought I would make Reibekuchen. Reiben means "to rub", so the potatoes are grated (along with the onions), and Kuchen means cakes. They have a lot of names in different cultures, like "latkes" in Jewish culture. They are quite common in the Rheinland region where my family comes from.
I wanted to find the best way to make them and didn't want to do a research project. I looked at a few recipes on a German recipe app and went from there. I knew that a big decision was going to be how to handle the moisture. Too moist and the oil cools and you end up with fried, oily mush. Too dry and the pancakes come out, well, dry.
I ended up with the last of the potatoes putting them in a sieve. The excess liquid drained away, but the mix still had enough liquid to keep the pancakes moist.
I oversalted a bit, but they still came out fine. I get confused sometimes between an EL (eating spoon or tablespoon) and TL (teaspoon)
A quart cup of sour cream is a nice addition
Don't use extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is lousy for stir frying, as it has a low smoke point and all the nice aroma and flavor components boil away. Stick with basic olive oil or some other veggie oil.
Reibekuchen
2 lb potatoes (I used Yukon Gold).
1 onion
3 tablespoons AP flour
2 eggs
1.5 Tbs salt
white pepper to taste
olive oil, non-EVOO
1) Grate potatoes and onions
2) Add the rest of the ingredient except the oil and mix
3) Allow to sit 15 minutes
4) Add to a sieve for a couple of minutes
5) Add oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat over medium high. Adjust heat as necessary to brown the pancakes relatively quickly without blackening them.
6) Drain on paper towels. They should be nicely browned on the outside and gooey in the middle.
