At Studio City’s Oy Bar, chef-owner Jeff Strauss celebrates Hanukkah with the same global flair found on his menu year-round. His annual Whole Lotta Latkes event serves international takes on the traditional potato pancake for eight consecutive nights. For our “Chef That” video series, Strauss, who also runs the Highland Park deli Jeff’s Table, shared his recipe and tips for a tried-and-true basic latke recipe, plus two global variants: one inspired by aloo tikki, the potato patties sold at many Indian street food stands, and another that uses Korean kimchi. He also includes optional sauces for each variation — a quick chutney in which you doctor a jar of applesauce and a spicy apple-soy sauce.
You can choose just one of Strauss’ latkes or try all three.
Note that for the aloo tikki latkes, if you don’t have chaat masala, you can substitute lemon juice, which will give you some of the tang but not all the flavor.
“The absolute best way to make latkes,” Strauss says, “is to shallow fry them in about 1/2 inch of neutral oil in a heavy skillet, ideally cast-iron. The ideal oil temperature is at or just under 350 degrees for deep golden brown latkes. I recommend using an instant-read thermometer, but you can do without if you pay close attention.”
When grating the potatoes, he says, “I like a mix of long ‘threads’ and short ones for better texture.”
