Japanese Croquette

[zhemao]

Here's a tasty treat to put in your next bento box. A korokke is a Japanese dish inspired by the French croquette. It's generally made from mashed potatoes and some sort of filling shaped into patties, then breaded and deep fried. I used chicken, mushroom, and onion as my filling, but you can make the filling out of pretty much anything. I also decided to pan-fry instead of deep-fry.

Ingredients:

• Potato


• Chicken thigh (or breast)


• Yellow onion


• White mushroom


• Salt


• Soy sauce


• Sugar


• Rice wine


• Black pepper


• Garlic salt


• Egg


• Corn starch


• Panko (breadcrumbs)


• Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Finely chop half an onion


2. Slice the mushrooms into small cubes


3. Dice the chicken into small pieces. You can do this by first slicing into thin strips, and then chopping up the strips.


4. Season the chicken with salt, sugar, black pepper, garlic, and soy sauce


5. Heat up a pan on medium high heat. Add a spoonful of oil.


6. Add the onion and mushrooms to the pan, stir-fry until the onion browns and the mushrooms reduce in size.


7. Set the vegetables aside.


8. Add another spoonful of oil and then add the chicken. Stir fry until the chicken turns color.


9. Add a dash of rice wine and stir until the alcohol evaporates.


10. Add the vegetables back to the mix and keep stirring until the liquid is more or less completely reduced. At this point, the meat and vegetables should be fully cooked.


11. Chop the potato into a few large chunks. Put them in a pot and cover with cold water.


12. Bring the pot to boil on high heat. Stir in a spoonful of salt.


13. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and let cook for 15-20 minutes.


14. You can check if potatoes are done by poking with a chopstick or fork. If it goes through easily, the potato is fully cooked.


15. Drain off the water thoroughly. Too much excess water and it will be hard to shape the patties later.


16. Mash the potatoes, then mix in the meat and veggies.


17. At this point, you should taste the filling and make sure the flavor is to your liking. Add more salt or sugar to adjust if necessary.


18. Let the filling cool until it's cool enough to touch.


19. Shape the filling into round patties with your hands.


20. Prepare a bowl of corn starch, a bowl with a beaten egg, and a bowl of panko.


21. Dredge each patty in starch, dip into the egg, and then roll in the panko. This will probably be a bit messy.


22. Heat up the pan on medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom.


23. You can check the temperature by dipping in a pair of bamboo or wooden chopsticks. If they start bubbling, the oil is ready.


24. Add the patties to the oil with one side facing down. You will probably have to fry in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.


25. Once the patties have browned on one side, flip over and brown the other side.


26. Remove from the oil and place on a plate or tray covered with a paper towel to cool.

And that's it. You don't have to fry these for very long, since the filling is already cooked. You just want to give them a nice brown crust. Turn down the heat if you see them start to burn. In the end, the outside will be crunchy and crispy, while the inside will be soft and fluffy.

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