4 large potatoes, peeled [about 2 pounds]
1 yellow onion
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions [including green part] or snipped chives ~ optional
1 egg, beaten
2 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
vegetable oil for frying

Keep peeled potatoes in cold water until ready to grate. Grate potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Squeeze mixture with flat of your hand and drain off as much excess liquid as possible.

Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick, about 2 to 4 tablespoons all together.

Turn oven to low, about 200*F (95* C).

Heat 1/4" oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Drop by 1/4 cup mounds into hot oil, and gently flatten to 1/4" to no more than 1/2" thick. Fry, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towel lined cookie sheets to drain, and keep warm in low oven until serving time. Repeat until all potato mixture is used.

NOTES:

I like the texture from grating on the medium size of a box grater.

If using regular size eggs, you may need 2 eggs ~ you want the mixture to hold together. The amount of flour used is dependent on how "wet" the mixture is ~ so start with the 2 tbsps and add more as needed.

If you don't want your kitchen/home to smell like a fast-food restaurant from the frying, use a neutral oil ~ I generally use canola or a canola/vegetable combination oil.

The 1/4 cup mound makes a fairly large pancake when flattened ~ you can make the pancakes any size you want.

Frying to golden brown takes maybe 2-3 minutes per side. I don't know why, but only flip the pancakes once.

You can also freeze the potato pancakes and crisp them up in a 350-degree oven at a later time.