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]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
