Hello everybody!

Today I’m sharing with you one of my favorite Japanese street foods named korokke. Korokke is the Japanese for the French word “croquette” which is a mix of mashed potato, ground beef and onions breaded with panko and deep fried. It’s the perfect comfort food in winter and this is a popular food in Japan that you can buy in pretty much any convenience store. I’m not much of a meat eater so I wanted to make a vegetarian version and also a healthier version as fried food isn’t really the best for our health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this recipe I cooked a mix of vegetables and seasoned it with some soy sauce and mirin which is a sweet rice wine. The original version is only seasoned with salt and pepper but unlike meat, vegetables don’t have a strong umami flavor so the mix of soy sauce and mirin really helps to give more flavor to the vegetables. I also decided to bake these korokke instead of frying them so it is not as greasy as the original. I really love how these turned out and I’m sure you will too!

Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients (makes 10-12 korokke):

• 1 kg (2 lb) potatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 zucchinis
• 1/2 red pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup panko
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1- Peel the potatoes and dice them. Put the diced potatoes in a bowl of water and let them soak for about 15 min. Drain the water, put the potatoes in a pot with water and boil until soft.

2- In the mean time, dice all the vegetables in small cubes. Heat up a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and add the diced onion. Once soft, add in the rest of the vegetables. Cook for about 5 min.

3- Add the soy sauce and mirin and stir the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 more minutes and reserve on the side.

4- Once the potatoes are soft, drain the water and place the potatoes in a bowl. Mash the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. I personally like to keep some chunks in the mash so it gives more texture to the korokke but you can mash until smooth if you prefer.

5- Mix the vegetables with the mashed potatoes and place the bowl in the fridge for 1h.

6- Because we are baking these korokke, we need to pan fry the panko so it will have a nice color. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and cook the panko until it gets a nice brown color. Then pour in a plate and reserve on the side.

7- Preheat the oven at 400 F. After 1h in the fridge the potatoes and vegetables mix should be cold enough to be manageable. Form patties and place them on a plate. You can make the size you prefer. I made them medium sized so I got about 12 korokke.

8- Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the flour in a plate. Cover each patty with flour, dip in the egg and cover with panko. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 min. You can drizzle some tonkotsu sauce on top if you’d like and then enjoy!

Korokke really makes an amazing snack or quick meal. I usually eat them with a salad on the side and this is simply delicious! They are flavorful and I love that they are a little bit lighter and healthier than the original ones!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comment what you think about this recipe and if you liked it.

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