{"id":33409,"date":"2022-12-05T03:05:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T03:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/?p=33409"},"modified":"2025-12-21T20:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T20:37:11","slug":"hanukkah-plantain-latkes-with-salsa-verde-pico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/es\/hanukkah-plantain-latkes-with-salsa-verde-pico\/","title":{"rendered":"Latkes de pl\u00e1tano de Hanukkah con salsa verde y pico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These Hanukkah plantain latkes are a delicioso take on the traditional recipe. They\u2019re from the kitchen of one of our favorite homecooks Michelle Ezratty Murphy<\/a>, who decided to Latino her latkes in honor of her husband\u2019s Puerto Rican heritage. Hanukkah falls on Dec. 7 this year, so Michelle started working on this recipe a couple weeks ago. The Phoenix-based homecook who grew up on the Caribbean island experimented using green plantains instead of the traditional potatoes as the main ingredient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dThey seriously came out sooooo good!\u201d reports Michelle. \u201dWe have been eating them all day. I served them with salsa verde<\/a> and pico de gallo<\/a>.\u201d Total success, she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle is ready for Hanukkah, Latino-style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooking the Big Hanukkah Feast <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most years, Michelle hosts the big family Hanukkah<\/a> celebration. \u201dHanukkah, to me, is simply remembering that the Jewish temple in Jerusalem was rededicated and the oil in the lamps in the temple burned for eight days when there was only enough oil to last for one day. It is a time for eight days of lighting our menorahs, celebration, songs, family, gift giving, and eating latkes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially that last one, she admits. Latkes are a big deal in Michelle\u2019s home. \u201dWe love<\/em> latkes,\u201d she says. \u201dLatkes are fritters made with grated potatoes, egg and matzoh meal. I only make them once a year, so that it remains a tradition in our family. Latkes are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. They are eaten with sour cream and applesauce, which gives them a sweet and savory taste. Because latkes are eaten quickly, the person making them is usually up and down from the table to the kitchen what feel like a million times, stirring the batter, frying them up, and flipping them. It seems I can never make them fast enough!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that she minds. Her family and friends appreciate the latke labor of love, eating every single one up, she proudly reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which makes it even more surprising that this year, Michelle\u2019s famosos latkes got a rethink. It all started with her wondering how she might bring in their full family heritage into the Hanukkah celebration. What if she used Puerto Rico\u2019s go-to starch, plantains<\/a>, instead of the expected papas? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dOur usual menu for Hanukkah is brisket and potato latkes served with sour cream and apple sauce. The potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce are actually derived from the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, meaning Jews whose heritage is from Eastern Europe. This Latino version of latkes could have been what the Sephardic Jews would have enjoyed after arriving in this part of the world. I like to think about that,\u201d says Michelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latino Latkes Are Here to Stay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So? Is the plantain version a new family tradition? Michelle nods. They\u2019re delicious, easy, sweet, unexpected, and she confesses she can’t stop thinking about the test batch she made. She\u2019s excited to make them for real on Dec. 18 this year, thrilled to be infusing a little Latino sabor into the Old World Hanukkah menu she grew up with.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"latkes
Michelle Ezratty Murphy tried using grated green plantains instead of potatoes in her latkes. They are now a Hanukkah family tradition, she reports.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The daughter of two Americans, Michelle was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she met and married a Boricua named Pat Murphy<\/a>. Along the way, she has become the keeper of her husband’s traditional family recipes (including Pat\u2019s Titi Rosa\u2019s Familia Kitchen Recipe Contest Grand prize winning arroz con pollo recipe<\/a>, which won the couple a prize trip for two to go home to Puerto Rico in 2021). To try more of Michelle and her husband Pat\u2019s family-famous dishes, check out her recipe for sofrito<\/a>, double-fried-plantain tostones<\/a> with garlicky mojo sauce<\/a>; pastel\u00f3n, the Puerto Rican lasagna<\/a>; step-by-step guide to baking quesitos,<\/a> and her Your Family\u2019s Favorite Picadillo<\/a> contest winning recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to Latino Your Latkes With Plantains?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Hanukkah Plantain Latkes with Salsa Verde & Pico de Gallo<\/h2>\n\n
\n \t\t \t\t\tRecipe by Michelle Ezratty Murphy<\/span>\n \t\t\n
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