Potato Cakes (Belarusian Draniki)

On the 3rd of July, the Belarusians are celebrating their National Day. As a part of the celebration they enjoy their national dish of draniki. Draniki is a Belarusian style shallow fried potato pancake made of grated potatoes.

2 lbs russet potatoes
½ white onion
2-4 Tbsp. pork or bacon fat
1 egg
sea salt

Peel the potatoes and the onion. Finely grate one potato and the onion into a bowl and mix well. Grate the remaining potato adding them to the mixture. (Please note the secret to this recipe is how finely you grate the potatoes and onion, it should be a pulp like consistency.) Mix well, beat the egg, season it with salt and add it to the mixture.

You can add a couple tsp. of water if you would like your pancakes to be a bit crispy which I would highly recommend.

Heat up the pork fat on high in a skillet and use about 1 Tbsp. of mixture per fritter.

Fry until golden brown on each side.

Serve immediately and enjoy with sour cream.

Makes 4-6 servings.