September 7, 2020

Japanese Croquette Recipe (Korokke)

Creamy potatoes mixed with minced meat inside a crispy panko layer form the basis for Japanese croquettes. This Japanese Croquette Recipe (Korokke) is absolutely delicious and easy to make. Although boiling the potatoes does take some time (~15-20 minutes). In this recipe, I share some tips on how to make the best Japanese croquettes!

Japanese often serve croquettes as street food in busy markets or during festivals. Japanese families sometimes make this recipe at home, because it is easy to make from scratch. It is one of the easiest fried foods to make because the insides are fully cooked before frying. With other fried foods, you need to ensure the inside is fully cooked before serving. This can be difficult. If you are a beginner at frying food, I highly recommend starting with Japanese croquettes. If you like fried Japanese food, please try our Japanese fried chicken (karaage) recipe and our Japanese fried pork (tonkatsu) recipe after you have had some practice with the croquettes.

Image Japanese Croquette Recipe (Korokke)

Tips for Making Japanese Croquette Recipe (Korokke)

The insides of the croquette are already fully cooked before frying. Thus, as long as the panko changes color, you can remove the croquette from the oil.
You can enjoy Japanese croquettes without any additional sauce. But if you are looking to spice up the flavoring a little, I would recommend trying it with a little salt or Worcestershire sauce. If available, I also recommend trying the croquettes with tonkatsu sauce.
You can save croquettes for a couple of days in the refrigerator. I recommend using an oven or a toaster when reheating. If you use the microwave, they will still taste good, but the croquette will lose its crispy texture.
These croquettes (korokke) save well for a long time in the freezer. After thawing, I recommend using the same heating method as the refrigerated croquettes. The oven or toaster will maintain the crispy outer layer of the croquette while the microwave oven will create a moist outer layer.

Japanese Croquette Recipe (Korokke)

Japanese Croquettes are made from a mixture of mashed potatoes, minced meat, and other vegetables. The mixture is then coated with panko and fried. In Japan, these are often served as street food, but can also be made at home. They are easy to make from scratch.

Print Recipe

Total Time 1

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

3 potatoes
1 onion
200 g minced meat (~1/2 lb)
1 tbsp vegetable oil (for cooking the minced meat)
200 ml vegetable oil (for frying the croquette)

Seasonings

1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp dashi
1 tbsp cooking alcohol
2 tbsp soy sauce

Croquette Coating

flour (for coating the croquette)
1-2 eggs (for coating the croquette)
panko (for coating the croquette)

Instructions

Preparing the Ingredients

Boil a pot of water for the potatoes
Sliced the 3 potatoes into bite size slices, and boil for 15-20 minutes (until soft)
Slice 1 onion
Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, the sliced onion, and the minced meat into a frying pan on medium heat and cook for ~5 minutes
Add the mirin, dashi, cooking alcohol, and soy sauce into the frying pan
Cook the onions and minced meat over low heat for 5 minutes

Forming the Croquettes

Once the potatoes are soft, remove them from the hot water and mash them in a mixing bowl. (Make sure to strain them well and remove as much moisture as possible.)
Add the mixture of cooked minced meat and sliced onions to the mashed potatoes and mix well
Form the mixture into individual patties to be coated and fried
Coat the patty first with flour, then egg and finally panko. Do the same for all patties.

Cooking the Croquettes

Add 200 ml of vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat
Drop panko into the hot oil. If it immediately floats, then the oil is hot enough to start frying the croquettes
Fry the croquettes for ~2 minutes on each side.
Remove the croquettes from the hot oil and enjoy!