Korokke (Meat and Potato Croquettes)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 東京都
Servings: 2人分（4個）
Korokke (Meat and Potato Croquettes) is a home-style meat dish. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- Potatoes (Danshaku / Yukon Gold type) 2 (about 300 g)
- Onion 1/2 (100 g)
- Ground meat mix (beef and pork) 100 g
- Butter 10 g
- Salt 1/3 tsp
- Black pepper a pinch
- Sugar a pinch
- Cake flour 2 tbsp
- Egg 1
- Panko breadcrumbs 4–5 tbsp
- Frying oil as needed
- Shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce to taste
Steps
- Peel the potatoes, remove any eyes, cut into quarters, and rinse briefly in water. Place in a microwave-safe bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and microwave at 600 W for 5–6 minutes until a skewer slides through easily.
- While still hot, mash with a potato masher or fork and mix in the butter. Leaving a few small chunks gives a fluffier texture.
- Finely chop the onion. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add the ground meat, and cook while breaking it up. When the color changes, add the onion and sauté until soft; season with salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Add the cooked filling to the potato bowl and mix well. Spread on a tray to cool. Shape once cool enough to handle.
- Divide into 4 pieces and form into oval patties about 2 cm thick. Smooth any cracks with your fingers (this helps prevent bursting while frying).
- Dust lightly with cake flour, dip in beaten egg, then coat firmly with panko.
- Heat oil to 180°C (356°F). Fry 2 at a time, about 1 minute 30 seconds per side, until golden brown all over. The filling is already cooked, so color on the coating is enough. Drain, plate, and serve with cabbage and sauce.
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Notes
Croquettes mainly burst in the oil when the filling is still warm or the coating has gaps. Cool the filling thoroughly and coat without bare spots.
Touching them repeatedly while frying peels off the breading. Leave them undisturbed for about a minute after they go in.
Adding boiled corn or curry powder to the filling makes a kid-friendly variation.
You can freeze them after breading. Fry from frozen in 170°C oil, taking a little longer.
Origin and history
Korokke are mashed boiled potatoes mixed with ground meat and onion, coated in breadcrumbs, and deep-fried. Along with tonkatsu and curry rice, they are sometimes called one of Japan’s “three great yoshoku” dishes.
They descend from the French fried croquette. In the West the filling is often a cream sauce, but in Japan the potato version spread widely among ordinary households.
In the Taisho era a hit song even sang “korokke today, korokke tomorrow,” showing how everyday the dish had become. In Tokyo, freshly fried korokke sold at butcher shops became a familiar Showa-era sight—an affordable dinner side and a classic after-school snack. Many shopping-street shops still sell them hot from the fryer as a local specialty.