Washing Potatoes Vs. Peeling Potatoes for Latkes

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Jennifer Cail. On behalf of Expert Village I'm going to show you how to make potato latkes for Hanukkah dinner. When it comes time to start preparing your potatoes for the potato latkes there are a couple of different ways in which you can go. Of course you have to take care of the potato skin; this can be done in one or two ways either washing it really well or by peeling it. Now if you are going to peel it you are still going to have to wash the potatoes. You want to make sure to get all the dirt off I like to use a brand new scrubbing sponge. If you don't happen to have a vegetable brush nearby and then you are just going to want to scrub it. Depending on your potatoes they can be dirtier or cleaner I try to use organic potatoes they are healthier for you and for the environment. The bonus they tend to be washed so you are still going to need to scrub it, you are not going to get caked on dirt like you would with some other potatoes. Not always but frequently. Now if you are going to peel it then that is probably good for washing and then you are just going to start taking off the peel you don't have to be exact about it if you leave some spots behind that's fine. You don't want to get out any eyes just cut those out probably with the end of your potato peeler. The big thing is it's a personal choice if you leave on the skin make sure you scrub it really hard you don't want to have any bits of dirt behind. If you peel it you don't have to wash it as quite as much but you still have to wash it and then you still have to peel it. For me it depends on how much time I have when making them but for tonight's purpose I'm going to leave most of them peeled and then I'm going to show you what to do from there."