This Korokke (Potato & Meat Croquette) Bento Box is a fun and delicious way to change things up. Made from scratch, these korokke mashed potato and beef balls coated with panko and fried.
Peel and roughly cut your russet potatoes to similar sizes and add it to a pot of water. Bring it to a boil and let cook until the potatoes are done. You should be able to pierce through it with a chopstick.
Meanwhile, saute your diced onion in a pan with some oil until it has softed. (In my video, I used the bacon grease that was left over from searing my bacon. Also, some people like to add in grated carrots as well but I skipped it today.)
Add in garlic and saute for a minute before adding in your ground beef.
Saute until cooked through. As I used bacon fat, I didn’t season with salt but if you’re using regular oil, I suggest you do.
Once the potatoes are done, slightly mash them. You don’t want it to become mashed potatoes and you want it to have a bit of texture to them. Season with a pinch of salt if desired.
Transfer the beef mixture to the potatoes.
Add an egg and mix until everything is combined. Set aside to cool until you can comfortable hold the mixture in your hands.
While the potato and beef is cooling, prep your dredging station. In one bowl, add in approximately 1 cup of flour, in another, 1 cup of panko, and in the third, 2-3 beaten eggs. Add more eggs as needed throughout.
Once the mixture has cooled, begin to shape your korokkes. This mixture usually yields me 18-20 balls. I like to shape them like hockey pucks.
Dredge your korokke balls/pucks through the flour, then egg, and then panko. Set aside until ready to fry.
In a Dutch oven or wok if you prefer, heat up your frying oil (350F/180C). You can deep fry them with enough oil to cover the pucks or you can shallow fry them and flip them around. As the insides are already cooked, you really only need to focus on getting them that beautiful golden colour.
Add in 2-3 korokkes at a time and fry until golden. Place them on a wire rack on top of a lined sheet pan when done to let excessive oil drip off.