Japanese Korokke
Tasty potato croquettes with a meat filling! Korokke are very popular in Japan. They’re often packed into bento or served with Japanese curry. Over time, this dish became a well-known street food, served with different sauces: tonkatsu, sriracha, Worcestershire, ketchup, and more.
Updated : 16 January, 2026
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
Croquettes
4
Potato
1
Onion
0.5
Carrot
35 grams
Wood ear mushrooms
500 grams
Pork mince
1
Eggs
to taste
Ground black pepper
to taste
Salt
2 tablespoon
Vegetable oil
Breading
1
Eggs
2 tablespoon
Soy sauce
80 grams
Wheat flour
120 grams
Breadcrumbs
Frying
200 milliliters
Vegetable oil
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare all ingredients. Use medium potatoes. Instead of wood ear mushrooms, you can use shiitake or button mushrooms. If the mushrooms are dried, soak them in water overnight, then drain and rinse in the morning. Instead of ground pork, you can use ground beef or chicken. Use large eggs. Japanese panko can be replaced with regular breadcrumbs.
Step 2
Peel the potatoes and boil them in lightly salted water until tender. To speed things up, cut the potatoes into a few pieces. When ready, drain all the water - no liquid should remain in the pot.
Step 3
Put the pot back on the stove and, over very low heat, evaporate any remaining moisture without burning the potatoes. Mash into a puree. Unlike classic mashed potatoes, you can leave a few small lumps for this dish. Cover with a lid and set aside.
Step 4
Peel the onion, rinse, and dice. You can also chop it in a blender, but don’t make the pieces too large. Peel and grate the carrot on a coarse grater. Finely chop the soaked mushrooms as well.
Step 5
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it. Sauté the chopped onion, then add the grated carrot and chopped mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are soft.
Step 6
Add the ground meat to the vegetables and cook, breaking up any clumps, until all the liquid has evaporated. Then turn the heat to high and fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season the filling with salt and pepper while cooking.
Step 7
Transfer the meat filling into the pot with the mashed potatoes, crack in one egg, and mix very well so everything is evenly combined. Let the mixture cool so you don’t burn your hands when shaping the korokke.
Step 8
In a small bowl, beat one egg, add soy sauce, and whisk lightly. If you don’t have soy sauce, replace it with cold water or milk and lightly salt the egg mixture. Sift flour onto one plate. Pour panko (or breadcrumbs) onto another plate. This setup will make breading quick and easy.
Step 9
When the potato mixture with meat and vegetables is warm (not hot), shape it into patties of any form: oval, round, or balls.
Step 10
Coat each patty in flour, dip into the egg mixture, then coat in panko, gently pressing so the crumbs fully cover the surface.
Step 11
Heat vegetable oil well in a frying pan - the oil must be hot so the coating sets properly. Fry the korokke on both sides until golden. Transfer to paper towels to remove excess oil.
Step 12
Serve the korokke hot as a standalone dish or as a side.
Author note
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