November 17, 2009

Korokke (Japanese Croquette)/コロッケ

Last Sunday, my son and I went mushroom hunting again, and gathered some kuritake (Hypholoma sublateritium) among others. After browsing through one of his favorite books on mushrooms, my son told me he wanted me to make korokke using the kuritake.
この前の日曜は、息子とまたキノコ狩りに行き、クリタケなどを採って来ました。息子はお気に入りのきのこの本を見て、クリタケを使ってコロッケを作って欲しいと言いました。

There are basically two types of korokke: Potato korokke whose main ingredient is mashed potato and cream korokke whose main ingredient is white sauce. The former is usually is of "koban" (oval gold coin) shape, while the latter is usually of "tawara" (straw rice bag) shape, that is, cylindrical.
Because the kuritake were of different sizes and shapes and of different stem lengths, I was unable to make my korokke into proper shapes. Some were cylindrical, others were ball-like, and still others were nigiri-shaped.
The ingredients were potatoes (microwaved and mashed), onion (chopped and microwaved), corn, and fake crab meat (instead of ground pork). I seasoned them with salt and pepper.
コロッケには基本的に二種類あります。ポテトコロッケ(主な具はつぶしたジャガイモ)とクリームコロッケ(主な具はホワイトソース)。前者は通常、「小判」形で、後者は通常、「俵」型(つまり、円筒形)です。
クリタケの大きさや形が、また軸の長さがまちまちなので、コロッケを適当な形にできませんでした。円筒状のもあるし、ボール状のもあるし、握り寿司の形のもあります。
具はじゃがいも(レンジでチンしてつぶしたもの)、玉ねぎ(みじん切りにしてレンジでチンしたもの)、トウモロコシ、かにかま(豚のひき肉の代わり)です。塩と胡椒で味付けしました。

The common way is to dust each piece with flour, coat it with beaten eggs, and then coat it with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), but I tried a new trick: Instead of coating with beaten eggs, I first beat one egg, added some water and what was left of the flour used for dusting, and added additional flour to make a batter like tempura batter. This way, you can make sure that each piece is fully coated with panko.
一般的な方法はそれぞれに小麦粉をまぶし、溶いた卵に入れ、パン粉をつけることですが、新たな裏技を試してみました。溶いた卵に入れるのではなく、卵を一つ溶いて、まぶすのに使った小麦粉の残りを足し、またさらに小麦粉を足し、天ぷらの衣のような生地を作ります。こうすると、それぞれにパン粉を完全につけることができます。

Sixteen pieces of korokke with kuritake that are different shapes and four pieces without kuritake that are of an oval shape:
色々な形の、クリタケの入ったコロッケ16個と、小判形の、クリタケ抜きのコロッケ4つ。

I used canola oil this time.
今回はキャノーラ油を使いました。

The first batch:
最初に揚げたコロッケ:

I had two pieces with lots of tonkatsu sauce and some Japanese mustard (karashi). I also had lots of shredded cabbage.
I also made clear soup with other mushrooms that we gathered.
私は2つ、豚カツソースをたっぷり、カラシを少しつけて食べました。千切りのキャベツもたくさん食べました。
採った他のキノコで澄まし汁も作りました。

Two byproducts:
Potato salad, which I made with what was left of the filling by adding some mayo:
副産物が2つ:
残った具にマヨネーズを足して作ったポテトサラダ:

"Pan cake", which I made with what was left of the batter:
生地の残りで作った「ホットケーキ」:

The korokke was a great success, and my son said it was very good. My daughter had the pan cake, and said it was good, too!
コロッケは大成功で、息子はとても美味しいと言いました。娘はホットケーキを食べて、それも美味しいと言いました。

2 comments:

Lexi said...

Mmm, those mushrooms look good....

Why did you choose not to chop up the mushrooms and mix them with the potatoes?

Hiroyuki said...

Hi, Lexi, the answer is simple: The description in the book says to keep the stem intact, and my son wanted me to follow it. I could have chopped them up, but then I would have lost all the texture of the mushrooms.