Japanese Potato Croquettes, or “Korokke” as they are called in Japanese, are a delicious fried food made from panko crumbed mashed potato with carrot, onion and mince. They are a tasty street food but are also one of those Japanese home style dishes that can easily be made at home too.
My mother often cooked this for us because Japanese Potato Croquettes are a favourite dish of most Japanese children. Japanese Potato Croquettes are served for either for lunch or dinner because this little croquette is like an all-in-one-meal! They’re especially great for lunch on-the-go!
There was a butcher in my little home town and the “Korokke” they made was so yummy. The outside of the korokke was a perfect golden-brown colour, that gave a wonderful “Crunch!” sound as you bit into it… Inside was the ideal creamy mashed texture, with the perfect ratio of potato to beef mince! Plus, they were only 50 yen (which is like 50 cents) so it was perfect thing for me to spend my pocket money on as a child. Sometimes my mom would bring them home for dinner as well when she didn’t have time to cook. It was great.
I wanted to recreate the butcher’s yummy potato croquettes with some delicious Aussie beef (which Japanese people love). To get the crispy and crunchy outer coating you need to use Japanese panko crumbs, which you can get at most grocery stores nowadays.
I did a little bit of research since I first published my original potato croquettes recipe in 2016. I wanted to recreate the “hoku hoku” potato texture. Sometimes food textures are described in Japanese using onomatopoeias (where the sound of the word is similar to the sound of the thing you are describing). It is very difficult to translate these words exactly. Sadly, only those who have bitten into a Japanese potato croquette and felt the comforting softness and warmth of the starchy steamy potato texture will know just what I am talking about…
So, let’s make some “hoku hoku” deliciousness so you can know the hidden meaning too! In order to achieve the perfect “hoku hoku” texture, using the right type of potato is the key. The two main types that you find in Japan are “Meekuin” (メークイン) and “Danshaku” (男爵). Usually potatoes are classified into three types, Starchy, Waxy, and All-purpose. The Starchy type makes great for a great “hoku hoku” texture in Japanese Potato Croquettes because they are high in starch and low in moisture.
I was searching for something similar to Danshaku potatoes in Australia, and found a Sebago variety in my local supermarket. It is more of an all-rounder potato variety in Australia, but the croquettes that resulted from it were definitely “hoku hoku”. In America the classic Idaho, or Russet would a great choice for croquettes. Try to make your Japanese Potato Croquettes with a starchy type of potato in your country to experience the “hoku hoku” Japanese potato croquettes.
There is also one other important cooking tip to create the “hoku hoku” texture. After the potato is cooked (but before you mash it), strain the water from the potatoes, put them back in the pot and shake them around to rough up the outsides a little. This will result in the potatoes looking like they are covered in snowy-like potato powder! This technique helps decrease the amount of moisture in the potato through evaporatation, and makes the potato fluffier overall. This technique is called “Kofuki Imo”, and potatoes made this way are often served as side dish.
So, the secret to “hoku hoku” Japanese Potato Croquettes is: 1: Choose a starchy variety of potato, and 2: Before you mash the cooked potato, shake it around to fluff up the outside and fry off the excess moisture from the potato.
If you liked my recipe for Japanese potato croquettes, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I see your wonderful creations!
Ingredients
- 500 g Starchy potatoes
- 120 g Beef mince
- 70 g Onion or half small onion
- 70 g Carrot half of small carrot
- 1/2 tbs olive oil
- Oil for deep frying
Coating
- 1 egg
- 4 tbs plain flour
- 50 ml water
- 1 tbs kewpie mayonnaise
- 2 cups of Japanese panko bread crumb
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potatoes.
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Check if the potatoes are cooked by inserting a skewer. If it goes through, the potato is cooked.
- Strain the water from the potatoes, put them back in the pot and shake them around to rough up the outsides a little.
- Chop the onion and carrot finely.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan over high heat and add the onion and carrot to cook.
- Add the mince and cook and season with salt and pepper.
- Once the mince is cooked, remove from the heat and add the cooked mince, onion and carrot to the mashed potato and mix well.
- Divide the mix into 8 equal sized ovals.
- Combine the egg, water, mayonnaise, and flour in a small bowl to make a batter.
- Coat each of the ovals with the batter, then place the potato oval into the panko crumbs.
- Coat all potato ovals with the panko crumbs.
- Heat deep frying oil in a deep pan until it reaches around 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don’t have a thermometer you can check if the oil is the correct temperature by dropping a bread crumb into the oil. If the bread crumb drops about halfway down into the oil, then floats back up – you are at the perfect temperature.
- Fry each of the potato ovals until crispy and golden brown.
- Serve croquettes with salad leaves or any side dish of your choice.
I love all types of croquettes, but have never seen these before, they sound so delicious, thanks for the lesson on “hoku hoku” potato texture, great post 🙂
Thank you Albert 😀
What a great, unexpected recipe. Delicious flavors mixed with a fantastic mixture of textures…crispy outside, soft and creamy inside.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you Kevin 😀
amazing congrats to the chef! 🙂
Thank you very much xD
This potato, Japanese korokke looks so good!! I Love the detailed step-by-steps Photography as well, Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you Ariasmith 😀
Thank you for the lovely recipe. Have tried it and everyone loved it. Will be doing it again. Just can’t get enough of it
Hi Choolian, Thank you for making it. I am glad to know your family loved it 😀
Hi.
Your recepies looks really delicious and I can’t wait to I try them myself.
Since I live in Norway, we don’t have japanese kewpie mayonnaise. Is it ok to use a different kind mayonnaise or should I make korroke without it?
Hi Stine, if you don’t have it, go without it 😀
These look so good and I can’t wait to try to make them. You mentioned that they freeze well. When do I freeze them? After they are fried or before?
Hi Misty, You can freeze them both before and after. If you fried the and have left over, after they are cooled down, wrap with cling individually and then put them in a ziplock bag, seal it and freeze, sae way for before cooking too. If you know already that will be left over, or you are making a batch, make sure that you mushed potato very well in order to avoid the potato dried out. It will keep for a few weeks. Re-fry it frozen in lower temperature like 170Celsius (338F) slowly. It freeze well but a little difficult to reheat because of the temperature difference of the deep frying oil and frozen food. It may burst while it is re-heat. If you have a micro wave, you could half-reheat in the micro wave then deep fry or bake in oven. Hope this help ;D
Lovely
My family and i enjoyed it.
Hi Smiles, Thank you for letting me know 😀 I am glad that your family enjoyed Japanese potato croquettes 😀
Can these be baked to keep the fat content down?
Hi Amy Yes you can. Same way to make baked Tonkatsu
Well written and beautiful recipe
Thank you so much for sharing
You are welcome Lisa 😀 Thank you for your kind words too 😀
I love Japanese croquettes! There is a great ramen shop near me that is based out of Tokyo, and their croquettes are perfect! I’ve been wanting to try making them myself and I’m so glad I found your recipe. Thank you for explaining which potatoes to look for to get that perfect texture! I can’t wait to try making these. <3 I'll definitely be looking at your other recipes now, too. Thanks for sharing!
Konnichiwa Reagan san. You are welcome. Share and spread Love of Japanese food 😀
Do you ever have a problem with the potato mixture sticking together? I made these once, different but similar recipe, and I could not get them to stay in shape. I would like to try again though.
Hi Belinda, no I have never had that trouble. Is it because the type of potato that is used? There are potato varieties not really suit to make croquettes. I mentioned it in the post 😀
Hi. I’ve always wanted to make these ever since I saw them in the movie “Godzilla 2000”. They were served with shredded cheese on top. A friend made them years ago and it was delicious. I’m excited to finally have a recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
Hi Richard, You are welcome. Really? I have not seen Godzilla 2000 and would love to see it now 😀
I tried this recipe yesterday and they were delicious! I usually make Spanish croquetas (I am from Spain :)) but I came across this recipe and wanted to try something different!
Maybe I did something wrong because the korokke did´t hold the shape when I coated them on the batter and crumps, so I had to coat them first in egg and then the mix, and the crumps, but otherwise REALLY GOOD!
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us and for such delicate and detailed blog in generall 🙂
Oh Thank you Lucia for trying my korokke. I am glad to know that all the way from Spain, reading my blog and try the recipe 😀 how wonderful! Thank you 😀 May be the type of potato you used? if it is too dry to shape, you could add a little bit of milk to give enough moisture to hold the shape 😀
Could I use leftover chicken curry instead?
Love your blog and recipes ( :
Hi Kota Thank you for your comment though, I don’t quite understand what you want to replace chicken curry with?
What heat level should be used during deep frying? Low heat?
I would say medium heat. I cooked 170-180 °C (338-356°F) 😀
I haven’t tried making your recipe yet, but the (food) thing I miss most about Japan are cheap & delicious croquettes and the lightly pickled cucumbers you can get in the ready-made section in the grocery store. That ‘hoku hoku’ texture immediately takes me back to being in Kyoto.
I will definitely be making your recipe this week and eating them with friends! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome Katie 😀