Japan, like most other countries, got some of its culinary influence from around the world. Ramen is a good and ancient example, having its origins in China. However, none stands out in the last century, I think, as the Croquette. Originally a French food, croquettes have gained a spot in most cuisines, from Spanish Tapas to Dutch-inspired dishes in South-East Asia. A croquette is generally a potato based fried food, but like anything that crosses cultural boundaries, it can mutate along with the regional tastes. Japan, however, stayed more or less true to the original idea.
This recipe is a pretty simple one, and everyone should be able to very easily find the ingredients at any store.
You will need:
2 Med. Baking Potatoes. (Russet for example) I only could find large ones, so I used 1 1/2 Large Potatoes.
1/4 lbs ground beef (About 1/2 cup or 100 g.)
1/2 a white onion
1 Tbs Butter
Salt
Pepper
1/2 Cup + Flour
1 Egg Beaten
1/2 Cup + Panko – Japanese Bread Crumbs, almost any store will have them nowadays. Can use normal breadcrumbs, but I would not.
Vegetable Oil
Start by peeling the potato and chopping into medium sized chunks.
Put them in a pot and cover them with water. Bring to a boil and cook until they are tender, about 10 minutes.
While the potatoes ate cooking, dice the onion into small pieces.
When done cooking, strain the potatoes and put them back into the pot. With a Potato masher or fork mash the potatoes and set aside.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and the beef is brown. Season with Salt and pepper.
Pour the beef and onions into the pot with the mashed potatoes. I had lean beef, so I just added the small amount of grease to them as well.
Mix the potatoes to incorporate the beef and make a smooth mixture.
Put some vegetable oil on your hands and lightly coat them. This will help the potato mixture not stick to them while forming the croquette.
Divide the mixture into equal portions. The recipe called for 4, but I felt they turned out too large. I suggest 8 smaller ones.
With your hands, form each portion into a kind of cylinder.
Start heating about 2 inches of oil in a deep pan on medium heat to bout 330~340 F.
Put the Flour, Egg and Panko in 3 different bowls.
One at a time, dip the croquette first in the flour, coating it.
Next move it to the egg bowl, coating the croquette in egg.
Now move it to the Panko bowl, use your hands to gently coat it in bread crumbs, making sure it is completely covered.
Gently add the croquette to the hot oil. Repeat with the rest of the croquettes, adding extra flour and panko to the bowls as needed.
Make sure you do not over crowd the pan! you want the oil to stay hot and have lots of room to make the croquette crispy! I only cooked 2 at a time.
Cook the croquettes, turning with a slotted spoon, until the whole thing is a nice brown color. About 10 minutes.
Plate up and enjoy! Usually it is served with a sauce. Most often in Japan it is a Tonkatsu sauce, but you can eat it with whatever you want!
Jon and I both felt the same way about this recipe. The croquettes were too big! The yummiest part was the fried outside and the size of them overshadowed that too much! So I strongly advise making them smaller, in this case just making 8 instead of 4 would have done the trick.
That said its a Maa~Maa from both of us, but a Oishii if they had been smaller!
Next week I will take a break from fried foods. With the weather turning cold and wet here in Washington, I will give you all a special treat! すき焼き Sukiyaki is a classic Japanese dish and is basically a beef hot pot soup! See you then!
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