Chef Yehuda Sichel’s Latke Secrets
Abe Fisher Chef Yehuda Sichel cops to liking his latkes with ketchup. Image by Steve Legato
We pried potato pancake preferences from a few of our favorite chefs around the country — and compiled them into a tell-all to help you make the best latkes of your life.
Image by Anya Ulinich
Chef
Yehuda Sichel
Restaurant
Abe Fisher, Philadelphia
Secret ingredient?
I use flour, which is not for everyone, but I think it makes them fluffier.
Type of oil used for frying?
Canola oil works best. However, if you are not worried about being vegetarian, I love to use schmaltz to fry them in!
What’s the one thing home cooks should not do?
I think the most important thing to remember is to not overcomplicate it. The latke doesn’t need that many ingredients to be delicious.
Preferred potato?
I prefer Idaho!
Applesauce, sour cream or other?
I know this isn’t traditional, but I love to put ketchup on my latkes.
Main components of your recipe?
I like to keep it simple and use only eggs, flour, potato and salt.
More Chefs’ Latke Secrets
Michael Kaminer is a contributing editor at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.