Fried potatoes are unassumingly a good thing, but give those fried potatoes a name — french fries, hash browns, home fries — and expectations rise. Call them a latke and most people will expect the light, crisp shredded potato patty noshed on during the holiday season. Observe these five rules for latkes worthy of tradition.

Both are good, but the point is to break down the onion into very small bits; no one wants a surprise chunk of raw onion in their latke. For maximum onion flavor and truly crisp, golden-brown results, chop the onion — don’t grate it. Grating onion turns it into a watery heap, resulting in the sweetness of the onion being drained away (during the latter, most-necessary step). By chopping the onion — and finely, at that — the flavor remains and doesn't add moisture to the mixture.

Whether you use a food processor or a box grater is a matter of personal preference or family tradition, but consider leaving the peel on for additional texture. Most importantly, however, whatever you do, save the potato prep for the very end to stave off the oxidation process that leads to potatoes discoloring.

Once the mixture is combined, transfer it to a clean kitchen cloth and wring the mixture dry, extracting as much excess liquid as possible. This is the most-important step to developing that coveted golden crust.