Anime Food!: Korokke (Croquette)

Hello again!  I feel like I'm on a roll here but don't get used to it!  xD

I present the second anime food I attempted; The golden, ever so crispy korokke.  This seems to show up in a lot of anime bento boxes and as an appetizer/side dish on an elaborate dinner table spread.  It's also a hot seller in Japan, being easily found as it shows up almost everywhere with all kinds of dishes.  There's even food stands are dedicated to producing just korokke.

Korokke is the Japanese pronunciation of 'Croquette' which is a common name for a mashed potato mix that's covered in batter or wrapping and then deep fried. It's common in a wide range of countries.

In the Japanese version, korokke is covered in batter, dipped in panko (dried bread crumbs) and deep fried until golden brown.  When fresh, its crispy exterior is the perfect contrast to the delicately soft mashed potato mixture inside.

I was stupid and used 4 potatoes which made waaaay too much mashed potatoes, lol.  I don't think I could even dream of shaping all of that into flat spheres and then deep frying it all. 

I would literally drown in korokke!  So I ended up only using half of the mashed potato mix and that must have made at least 30 of these things.

If anyone ever anticipates doing this, I'd recommend using only one large potato or two small potatoes.  Using 4 medium potatoes for this is just asking for 3+ hours of deep frying...

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of panko
- Potatoes (for God's sake use two at most!)
- Flour
- Eggs
- Salt/pepper
- Milk
- Butter
- Canned corn/peas/etc
-1/2 or less onion
-Hamburger (optional)
- Vegetable oil
- Lettuce (for garnish, optional)

I made up the mashed potato mixture myself for this recipe since I learned from previous recipes how to make mashed potatoes.  Recipes recommended me to use milk and slices of butter to give it a richer, smoother taste.  How much to use depends on one's preference of taste and consistency.

The eggs are used with the flour to coat the shaped ovals of potato mixture so it depends on how much mashed potato mix one has.  I filled a wide, flat bowl with flour, a wide flat bowl with panko, and a regular bowl with about two beaten eggs (note: I would get more eggs if I needed them).  First I would shape the mashed potato mixture into flat shaped ovals, dip it into the flour, then into the beaten egg, and lastly, coat it with the panko before placing it into the hot oil to fry.

This isn't too difficult to make.  The hard part, in my opinion, is where I had to stand around for at least 2 and a half hours deep frying and then cleaning up the monstrous mess this project created.  Maybe if I made a smaller batch, I would have had an easier time.

But they turned out pretty great in the end, even though I was condemned to the stove for the whole time, eating damaged pieces while frying.  xD

Anime pictures from Animu Food