Quick and Easy Potato Pancakes (Lapcsánka)

This is an old-school, poor man's dish but it's still popular nowadays. In Hungary we make different versions of these potato pancakes: sometimes they are as large as mine, sometimes they are smaller but thicker. The Hungarian name of these also varies by regions e.g.: lapcsánka, lapótya, tócsni, pacsni etc.
It is great as a snack, quick dinner or as a side dish.
Ingredients (makes 5-6 pancakes)
5 potatoes (2 lbs, 1 kg)
3 heaped tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 garlic clove - minced
1 tbsp oil + 4-5 tbsp for frying
Sour cream for serving
1. Peel the potatoes then wash them under cold running water
2. Grate the potatoes very finely - you can use a cheese grater too
3. Stir it a little (don't worry if the potato is starting to brown - it's normal)
4. Place a fine strainer over a bowl and ladle/pour the grated potato into it
5. To get rid of the moisture, leave it in the strainer for 5 minutes
6. Place the potato back into a large bowl
7. Pour out the liquid, but keep the starch - add it to the potato mixture and stir
8. Add the salt, black pepper and minced garlic, then stir again
9. Add the flour and mix thoroughly.
10. Add 1 tbsp of oil and mix well.
11. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and spread it around.
12. When it's hot add 3 heaped tbsp of the potato mixture. Using a spoon spread it out evenly, gently forming it into a round shape, until the pancake is almost as large as your pan. (mine is about 8,5” (22 cm) diameter and 3-4 mm thick.
13. Fry it for about 3 minutes
14. Have a peek underneath to check how it looks (it should be golden brown and crispy)
15. Flip it over with a knife or spatula and cook the other side for about 2 minutes.
16. Check and remove from the pan when it's ready
17. Do the same with the rest of your potato mixture. Occasionally add some more oil into the pan if needed
18. Serve it right away while it's hot, with some sour cream and a glass of cold beer.
19. ENJOY!
/The music is based on a Hungarian folk song, played and made by my husband, MrStick© 2016 - (all rights reserved)/

[@charlesz6464]

Your dog knows whats good.

[@moon0halo]

I wish I could remember how my grandmother made them. Not sure if she added an egg or not. However, she always served them to me with sugar on top.

[@kitchenpaprikash3888]

I'm so happy that you're familiar with this dish! :D I've never tried it with sugar, but definitely will!! Thank you for the tip

[@moon0halo]

@@kitchenpaprikash3888 Hi! Thanks for your responses! My grandmother was full-blooded Polish and she married a Hungarian. My great-grandmother taught her many Hungarian dishes. I know there wasn't any onion in her potato pancakes because well, sugar on top would be yucky, ha!

[@kitchenpaprikash3888]

I love how many similar Polish-Czech-Slovak-Hungarian dishes we have! Usually those are almost the same, just a little bit of differences here and there (one with garlic, one with sugar :D).

[@forestg7564]

@@moon0halo if your grand mother Was polish she would definitely add onion. And yes placki ziemniaczane are best with sugar on top!

[@moon0halo]

@@forestg7564 Obviously, one way is sweet (without onion or garlic) and one way is savory (with onion and garlic). Potatoes are so versatile. I love potato pancakes both ways. Fantastic!

[@Wanna.Wander]

#Yumyums 💜

[@forestg7564]

Mniam. I use very similar fine rostély as you. But I don' t separate the liquid. When waters vapours in high temperature make them more crispy ( I always fried each side two times. And I add Hagyma on begging for flavour and that dough didn't turn dark. One Hagyma and one tajás for one kilo of potatoes, salt and pepper. You can also fried Lapcsánka in more oil add pörkölt ön the top and sour tejföl. Then you will something we call placek po węgięrsku(magyarul lapcsánka?, Hungarian style potatoes pancakes). Nagyszerű munka! Jó ízlésed van es Te egy remek szakács vagy🙂

[@kitchenpaprikash3888]

Thank you so much for your kind comment and for the tips and the recipe of placek ..... :D I'll definitely will try it that way - it's one of my favorite dish, and like to try different versions! (köszönöm a kedves hozzászólásodat! :D)

[@forestg7564]

@@kitchenpaprikash3888 Szívesen. I'm declared fan of your channel. Hope it will grow faster and faster.

[@kitchenpaprikash3888]

@@forestg7564 Thank you!!!