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Asparagus Latkes

A savory pancake made with fresh asparagus, carrot, eggs, cheese, matzo meal, and seasonings, pan‑fried until golden.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,027 recipes mention both. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Oven400°F

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Break off the butt ends of the asparagus.

  2. Fine-chop the asparagus by hand or with a food processor fitted with a steel blade, then transfer the chopped asparagus to a bowl.

  3. Fine-grate the carrot by hand, or cut it into ½-inch rounds and fine-chop in a food processor.

  4. Add the carrot to the bowl with the asparagus.

Make the batter

  1. In a separate bowl, combine 1 egg yolk with the seasonings, olive oil, and parsley.

  2. Stir in the garlic, onion, and cottage cheese or ricotta (stir the mixture first).

  3. Combine the asparagus mixture with the batter.

  4. Add matzo meal a tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition.

  5. Beat the egg whites on high speed in an electric mixer until foamy.

  6. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff but not dry.

  7. Fold the beaten egg whites into the pancake batter.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and divide the oil among the skillet(s).

  2. When the oil is hot, ladle a heaping tablespoon of batter for each pancake into the skillet, spreading to a 3-inch diameter (pancakes should be about ¼-inch thick).

  3. Cook until well browned, about 4 to 5 minutes.

  4. Flip the pancakes and brown on the second side, lifting with a spatula after 3 minutes to check doneness.

  5. Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a preheated 400°F oven (toaster oven or regular oven).

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Asparagus + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,027 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together342 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Carrot + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Nutmeg + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable body and flavor of the pancakes.
Eggs
Egg yolks bind the batter, while whipped whites add lightness and help the pancakes rise.
Cottage cheese or ricotta
Adds moisture and creaminess to the batter.
Matzo meal
Absorbs moisture and gives the batter enough body to hold its shape.
Carrot
Adds sweetness and moisture to the batter.
Cream of tartar
Stabilizes the whipped egg whites so they hold their volume.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites deflate easily if overmixed or stirred vigorously, so fold gently to keep the air that makes the latkes light.

Flavor stand-ins for the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, carrot, egg, nutmeg, pepper, marjoram, olive):

  1. Parsleybetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Rosemarybetter flavor fit
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, carrot, egg, nutmeg, pepper, marjoram, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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