- 600g/1.3lb starchy potatoes (note 1)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 200g/0.4lb pork mince (ground pork) (note 2)
- 1 small onion finely diced
- Salt & pepper
- 50g/1.8oz flour
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 cups Japanese bread crumbs (note 3)
- Oil for deep fry
- Shredded cabbage
- Parsley leaves
- Tonkatsu sauce (note 4)
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Put potatoes in a saucepan and add water to cover the potatoes sufficiently. Turn the heat on high and bring to a simmer.
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Cook potatoes until a bamboo skewer or a thin knife can get through to the centre of the potatoes easily. This will take 15-40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes (note 5).
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When the potatoes are cooked, drain into a colander. Peel the potatoes immediately and place them into the saucepan just emptied. It is very hot so use a cloth or layers of kitchen paper to hold the potatoes.
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Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes mostly but leaving some tiny chunks of potatoes.
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While boiling potatoes, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a fry pan over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté until the onion becomes translucent and soft (about 3-5 minutes). Add pork, salt & pepper and cook, breaking it up as you go until browned and cooked through.
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Add the cooked mince to the potatoes in the pot (discard oil if accumulated in the fry pan), then the Korokke Flavouring ingredients. Mix well (note 6).
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Divide the potato mixture into 12 equal balls. Flatten them and shape into oval patties, about 2cm/¾” thick.
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Place flour, egg and breadcrumbs in a shallow plate or bowl individually.
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Coat each patty with flour, egg, then breadcrumbs.
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Heat oil in a deep fry pan over medium heat. Fry the patties for 1-2 minutes until the breadcrumbs become golden brown. You can fry more than one patty at a time but do not overcrowd the fry pan.
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Serve immediately with shredded cabbage with a stem of parsley leaves, accompanied by tonkatsu sauce.
1. Starchy potatoes are best suited to this dish as they become nice and fluffy when cooked. The best to use are Russet (common in the US), Dutch Creams, King Edward or Red Delight. However, great all-purpose potatoes like Golden Delight, Coliban, Red Rascal and Sebago (popular in Australia) still work great.
2. Today, I used just pork mince but usually I use mixture of pork and beef mince. You could even use chicken if you like.
3. The quantity of breadcrumbs required is approximate as it varies depending on how much you coat the patties.
You can use normal breadcrumbs but the texture of outside would be different from korokke. Japanese breadcrumbs are much more coarse than standard breadcrumbs, hence they create a crunchier texture when cooked, which is the best part of korokke.
If you can’t find Japanese breadcrumbs at Asian grocery shops, you can make them by placing stale white bread in the blender and coarsely grinding it.
4. I think that thick fruity tonkatsu sauce goes well with korokke. Please see my post, Yakisoba for more details about Japanese sauce. You can also see the tonkatsu sauce bottle in the photo below this recipe.
But if you don’t have it, a mixture of Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce (ketchup) can be a good substitute.
5. If you don’t have time, you can cut the potatoes into 2.5cm (1”) cubes, then boil in a pot of water just to cover the potatoes. When the potatoes ae cooked through, drain the water leaving the potatoes in a pot. Shake the pot over high heat for 15-20 seconds to evaporate excess moisture.
6. At this point, try to forma a patty to check the consistency of the potato mixture. If too dry, it tends to crack the edges of the patty and you need to add a bit more milk (not in ingredients) to make it moist.
7. You can breeze Korokke before deep frying. Individually wrap Korokke and place them in a ziplock bag and freeze.
Do not thaw Korroke before frying as the moisture form the Korokke makes it difficult to deep fry. Fry either frozen or slightly thawed in microwave.
The temperature of the oil should be about 180C/320F. Fry only a couple of Korroke at a time and do not turn them over.
When the centre of the Korokke is softened, it is ready.