Potato Pancakes

Method

1. Peel 300 g of floury potatoes and grate them on the coarse side of a box grater into a large bowl. Peel and grate 50 g of onion in with them — the onion juice keeps the potato from browning while you work.
2. Tip the gratings into the centre of a clean tea towel, gather it into a bundle and squeeze hard over a second bowl, wringing out as much liquid as you can. The drier the potato, the crisper the pancake.
3. Let the squeezed liquid stand for a minute until a chalky white layer of starch settles on the bottom of the bowl. Pour off and discard the water, scrape the starch back into the potato — it binds the pancakes and keeps them tender.
4. Add 1 egg, 1 tbsp of plain flour, 0.5 tsp of fine sea salt and several grinds of black pepper. Mix thoroughly with a fork until the shreds are evenly coated, and fry straight away before the mixture turns grey and weeps.