Introduction
Kartoffelpuffer are German potato pancakes: grated raw potato and onion bound with egg and a little flour, fried flat in oil until crisp and brown. They are a cheap lunch or supper with apple sauce, a side for a roast, and a winter street food at German Christmas markets.
The dish is eaten all over Germany under different names: Reibekuchen in the Rhineland, Rievkooche in Cologne, Reiberdatschi in Bavaria. Its origin is not documented. The classic partner is apple sauce; in the Rhineland they are also eaten on buttered rye bread. Squeeze the grated potatoes hard, since the drier the mixture, the crisper the pancakes.
Ingredients
- 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled
- 1 onion
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of grated nutmeg (optional)
- sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying (about 100 ml)
- apple sauce, to serve
Tools
- A box grater (or the grating disc of a food processor)
- A mixing bowl
- A sieve and a clean tea towel
- A large frying pan, about 28 cm wide
Preparation
- Grate the potatoes and onion finely into the sieve. Put them in the tea towel, twist it closed and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Mix the potato and onion in the bowl with the eggs, flour, salt and nutmeg. Work quickly, as grated potato turns grey when it waits.
- Heat a layer of oil about 3 mm deep in the pan over a medium-high heat, until a shred of potato sizzles at once.
- Drop 2 tablespoons of mixture per pancake into the pan and flatten each to about 1 cm. Fry 3 or 4 at a time, so the oil stays hot.
- Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until deep golden and crisp at the edges. If they brown too fast, lower the heat: the inside needs time to cook.
- Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest, adding oil as needed. Serve hot with apple sauce.