Korokke are potato cakes coated with panko and deep fried. Korokke is a food people of all ages love in Japan. Well, who wouldn’t like deep fried mashed potatoes? It does not seem like a traditional style of Japanese food, but it in fact is since Korokke has been popular for 100 years. People in Japan may not have to make Korokke at home because they can find it anywhere, but we do when living outside Japan. It’s hard to get decent tasting Korokke here… Besides you can’t beat homemade Korokke anyway when it’s hot and crispy!
Korokke is found at many stores in Japan like hot delis inside supermarkets, bento shops, convenience stores, etc. But the best place to buy Korokke is butcher shops. They usually have a small deep-frying set-up in the corner of a shop and sell it as they fry. Some freshly made Korokke from butcher shops may surpass home- cooking. Their Korokke is just so good! I don’t know but there might be some kind of secret ingredients that butchers don’t tell us. Early evenings is the busiest time for such shops for dinner shoppers and hungry middle or high schoolers seeking filling snacks .
It’s said that Korokke originated from French croquette or Dutch kroket. It became a wide-spread western style food in the early 1900s in Japan. However, it evolved to suit more Japanese tastes. Here we made a very basic type of Korokke, but there are many variations. Curry Korokke spiced with curry powder, Kabocha pumpkin Korokke, and even Nikujaga Korokke using mashed leftover Nikujaga. So if you like making Korokke, be as creative as you want!
Enjoy Korokke with the sauce of your choice, Tonkatsu sauce, Worcester sauce, or ketchup, or just as is.
Potato Korokke (croquette)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb potatoes
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 onion (minced)
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Panko (bread crumbs)
- oil (for deep-frying)
- Tonkatsu sauce
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and cut into 4 pieces each. Cook in boiling water until soft. In a big bowl, mash potatoes well.
- Heat oil in a pan, and start cooking onion. Then add ground beef and cook until browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix potatoes and meat mixture and add some more salt and pepper to taste. Let it cool.
- Divide potato mixture into 8 pieces and make oval patties. Refrigerate for an hour.
- Coat with flour, then eggs, and finally Panko (bread crumbs).
- Heat deep frying oil to 350-375F, and fry the patties for 3-4 minutes each side.
Video
41 Comments
Made this a few days ago and my family loved it. Thank you so much for this recipe!
LP,
you’re welcome!
Absolutely delicious. Made this tonight with Italian hot sausage, instead of mashed potatoes. Everyone loved it.
PS:At the end of your videos both of say something like ‘hoishee’, hoisheein. Can you tell us the right words for this in Japanese?
love ya
G
Geoff,
glad you liked our Potato Korokke recipe!
We are saying “Oishii” “Oishiine” (tasty in Japanese).
I recently tried making this and it was very tasty. I’m not sure if I succeeded though, are they usually supposed to be very soft and breakable? The inside was more like a thick liquid-paste than I thought it would be.
Oto,
it is quite soft inside when it’s very hot. But it should not be like liquid. It could be breakable if you accidentally poke holes when deep-frying, then it may fall apart.
I’ve never really cooked japnese food however I’m starting to try a few things from your website. First thing I’m going to attempt is the potato korokke but I’m going to add some shredded cheese & maybe some brocelli {sp} not sure how It’ll work but I’m going to cross my fingers & hope for the best 😀
Rebecca,
cheese and broccoli! Sounds great!
would it work with normal bread crumbs or is panko the only thing I can use for this recipe?
thank you for your time 🙂
Mariann,
I don’t know what you mean by normal bread crumbs.. finer or coarser crumbs? Any bread crumbs would work, but texture will be different.
Will it be alright if I take out beef and just have the potato? I was wondering since some people I know are vegetarian. In my culture, we have something similar where it will taste fine with just potato or you can add meat.
Ryan,
it’s not going to taste the same, but of course you can skip beef. Add finely diced and sauteed vegetables like onion, carrot, peas, etc. if you like. That’s vegetable Korokke!
I’ve made it. It was so easy. I don’t even have to look anymore. My mom and everyone loves it. I love it and love making it! Soon I’m going to add shrimp or crawfish with it. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Shamica,
Glad you liked our Korokke recipe! Sounds yummy with shrimp too.
I was wondering if you have any advice for baking vs frying? I love fried foods, but due to dietary concerns as well as being lazy on the clean up end, we try not to fry at home much.
Jennifer,
I think you could bake in the oven although the flavor is not going to be the same. You might have to experiment the temperature and timing since I have never done that. You also may not get nice golden color by baking it. Spraying some oil before baking may help browning.
I made this recipe and it was delicious. Can I freeze fully cooked/fried korokke and heat them for later?
You can freeze before deep frying them. Fry frozen.
Does the temperature need to be changed when frying from frozen so that the outside does not burn before the inside is heated up?
This is a delicious recipe. Can I freeze the fully cooked/fried korokke?
SK,
you could freeze Korokke before frying. And fry frozen.
My potato korokke either fell apart or when i turned the heat down did not cook properly! Any ideas maybe the mixture was too moist? Would love to be able to make these!!
Grace,
it may have been too soft like you said. Careful not poke a hole while you fry.
Hi! What’s the health benefit of this food? =)
Seg,
may not be healthy, but super tasty! Try it!
I’m going to make these to go w/ dinner on my B-day, they look so good, & I’ve been wanting to try them since I saw them in a Godzilla movie of all places lol.
JR,
good luck with making Korokke. Hope you like it!
They didn’t last the weekend lol, I am not having people left & right ask me for the recipie, they were so good I can’t wait to get more potatoes & ground beef so I can make more.
JR,
glad you liked our Korokke! We also have Pumpkin Korokke recipe too. Enjoy!
When I lived in Okinawa (9 years) I would love to get the curry korokke from the convenience stores. Making some today with bacon instead of ground beef 🙂
I know they’ll be a hit at dinner –
Andrew,
let us know how your Korokke came out!
Noriko san..I’m glad I found this site..wonderful..It was more than a year since I had my sea food korokke in japan..my family loves japanese food and korokke is unique food..thank you for the recipe…today I will add korokke in our lunch menu..please share tempura udon recipe next time..
pojie,
glad you liked our Korokke! We may have to make a seafood version, it sounds yummy!
I wanna try making these! But I don’t have a deep fryer, is there another way to make them?
hi, It Makes without eggs please !
Harsh,
you may be able to make slurry out of flour and water. Dip slurry, and then Panko bread crumbs.
Hi, can you substitute another flour for wheat flour? Sadly I am gluten free for 5 years and I know that some substitutions taste differently. Do you have a recommendation? Thank you.
Cassie,
yes you can!
I have tried this recipe just recently, It was so delicious! My husband and daughter fought over the last one lol. I have tried the potato & onion miso soup as well and the tofu hamburger steak. Everything was amazing. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes ! <3 (^_^)
omg they are so good me and my friend made some 10/10 ps love your youtube vids!
Do you recommend a particular type of potato? It looks like you used russet potatoes or some other thick skinned potato.