Persimmon Latkes
QueenSashy
Photo by James Ransom
- Serves
- 10 latkes
I love the floral, perfumy undertones of persimmon. In this dish, they are the key ingredient, and with a touch of spices they alchemize the everyday potato latkes into an entirely different experience.
Ingredients
- 3 small yellow potatoes (about 12 oz)
- 2 firm Fuyu persimmons (about 9oz)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 small garlic clove, mashed
- 1 pinch cumin (1/4 teaspoon or less)
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- Oil, for frying
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The ingredients for this dish are simple but the mixture tastes heavenly. Using firm, unpeeled persimmons is truly a genius idea. Cumin is absolutely necessary for this recipe and provides the finished dish with a nice spice. As a note, the potato starch we saved for the mixture was not enough, and the mixture didn't hold together on the first few tries. I added a bit (around two teaspoons) of cornstarch and it worked much better.
Directions
- Step 1
Peel the potatoes and grate them coarsely, by hand or in a food processor. Let the potatoes rest for a couple of minutes and then squeeze excess water by hand. Reserve the water in a small bowl and leave it for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour off all the liquid from the bowl, but leave the white potato starch that settled on the bottom.
- Step 2
Grate the persimmons (without peeling them).
- Step 3
In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, persimmons, starch, eggs, cumin, nutmeg, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Step 4
In a large skillet heat the oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture per latke into the skillet, spreading into flat rounds with a fork. (Do not overcrowd the skillet.) Reduce heat to medium and fry the latkes until undersides are dark golden, about four to five minutes. Using a spatula carefully turn the latkes over (be gentle as there is no flour in the mixture and they will be prone to breaking easily) and fry until undersides are dark golden, about four to five minutes more. Transfer the latkes to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately.