One of the disadvantages of not jotting down the items to buy during grocery shopping, is that the majority of time, you may end up buying items that you already have. I don’t really have scheduled days for grocery shopping and therefore, I’ll just stock up as much as possible basic dry groceries, e.g. garlics, onions, gingers and potatoes. I sometimes buy too much, to the extend that there are times the potatoes start to sprout.
It’s quite a challenge to use up the onions and potatoes before they start to sprout. As I was figuring what other dishes could I come up with besides the usual ones, I chanced upon a dish called the Mushroom and Meat Korokke (Croquette) in one of the recipe books. As I researched more into it, only then did I know that it was originally a French dish but was then introduced to Japan and the Japanese called it Korokke (コロッケ). Korokke is a deep-fried dish, made by mixing cooked chopped vegetables, seafood and meat along with mashed potatoes, before it is being shaped into a flat patty, coated with flour, eggs and panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs). It’ll then be deep-fried till its golden brown on the outside. Instead of deep frying the Korokke, a healthier version of it is none other than using the air frying method. And its outcome, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Oh, how marvellous is that!
Instead of using the usual ingredients comprising beef and panko, I replaced them with ground pork and the locally mixed breadcrumbs for the simple reason that I was too lazy to shop for them (thankfully, the dish turned out perfectly fine). In this recipe, I used the Bangladeshi potatoes as both hubby and I love them so much, because of its soft texture. And of course, it’s perfectly fine if you prefer to use other types of potatoes for this dish. Honestly, I assumed that it’d be an easy task for me to prepare this dish. Never did I realise that it was actually quite time consuming. Nevertheless, seeing hubby enjoying the dish so much, reminded me that the time spent in preparing it was worth it.
Mushroom and Meat Korokke Recipe
Serves: 2-3 pax / Prep Time: 15 mins / Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins / Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Ingredients
- 2 large Bangladeshi potatoes (cut into cubes)
- 1/2 carrot (finely diced)
- 1 large onion (finely diced)
- 4 shiitake mushrooms (finely chopped)
- 250g ground pork (you can replace it with beef or veal)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Few dashes white pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- Canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs for the breading
- Dried parsley flakes (optional)
Instructions
1. Bring the water in a pot to boil. Add in the potatoes and cook them until they are softened.
2. Remove the potatoes from the water and place in a big bowl, mash the potatoes, leaving some small chunks for the texture. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and sauté them until fragrant and soft.
4. Add carrots and mushrooms then stir fry them until they are soft.
5. Add the ground pork and cook until they are browned and cooked thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
6. Mix both the mashed potatoes and meat mixtures into the pot, leaving behind any liquid in the pan.
7. Add an egg into the mixture and mix them until well-combined. Set it aside until it is warm to touch.
8. In the mean time, prepare the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs for breading.
9. When the mixture is warm to hold, shape them into ball patties.
10. Coat the patties with flour, egg and lastly with the breadcrumbs.
11. Preheat the airfryer to 200°C and gently place the Korokke patties onto the basket.
12(a). Slide the basket into the airfryer. Set the timer for 8 minutes and air fry the Korokke until the timer rings; and they become crispy and browned.
12(b). In a non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Place the Korokke patties into the oil and deep fry them until they are golden brown on the outside.
13. Sprinkle some dried parsley flakes onto them and serve immediately. Preferably, serve the Korokke with Tonkatsu sauce. I used chilli sauce and Kewpie deep-roasted sesame dressing instead, as I didn’t have the Tonkatsu sauce.
NOTES:
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