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Potato Starch

Chances are that you have already extracted your own potato starch in the past, when you’ve made any form of potato pancake such as hash browns, Reibekuchen or latkes. Many recipes will direct you to use a cheesecloth and squeeze the coarsely grated potatoes as dry as possible to achieve a crispy finish.
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Active Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
+ Drying 1 day
Course Staples

Ingredients
  

For the starch

  • 1 kg starchy potatoes (such as Maris Piper, King Edward, Russett)

For the leftover potato pancakes

  • 4 spring onions
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tbsp bread flour

Instructions
 

  • To make the potato starch, place a fine sieve in a large bowl and line it with a cheesecloth. Wash the potatoes, then finely grate them into a separate bowl (leave the peel on). Cover the grated potatoes with warm water, gently rub them with your hands to release the starches, then tip them out into the lined sieve (you might need to do this in batches). Use the cheesecloth to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Tip the squeezed out potatoes back into the bowl and repeat the same process one more time to remove as much of the starch as possible.
  • Let the strained liquid sit for 15 minutes while the starches sink to the bottom of the bowl. Then carefully pour out the water, leaving only the potato starch behind. At this point, the starch will look slightly mirky. To rinse it, pour some clean water into the bowl and mix it well until all of the starch has dissolved again. Then leave it to set for another 15 minutes before pouring off the water again, repeating the process one more time until the starch looks completely white.
  • Spread the sediment in a thin layer onto a lined baking tray and leave it to dry in a warm, sunny spot for 24-48 hours. Then add all of it to a blender and grind into a fine flour. Your potato starch is ready!
  • To make the leftover potato pancakes, cut the spring onions into 2 cm pieces and coarsely grate the onion. Then add both to the grated potatoes along with the flour and 1 tsp salt. Mix well and let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the salt to draw out more moisture, which helps the pancakes to keep their shape. Divide the mixture into eight equal balls and fry four at a time, pressing them down and shaping them into pancakes with a spatula, until golden and crispy on both sides (around 10 minutes).
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