I've turned my kabocha squash into tasty croquettes! The recipe is really delicious and it makes a great appetizer. I am a HUGE fan of the squash and I'm glad to have found a dish that makes the squash a star.
Croquettes do take a gentle hand and this was my first time making them. I find that, with cooking, practice makes perfect. Be gentle with these! My first attempt came out pretty good! Cradle them into the hot oil and watch them brown and in less than 8 minutes, you'll have crunchy croquettes!
Ingredients
2lb kabocha squash, halved
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 lb ground pork
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
2 cups canola oil
Here's how to prep:
- Cut the kabocha squash in half and remove the seeds and the stringy insides.
- Mix the mirin, soy sauce and water into a pot and steam the kabocha squash on medium heat for about 25-30 minutes, until it is cooked through and is soft enough that you an easily stick a fork into it. Make sure you stick the fork in deep enough to make sure that the inside of the squash is soft as well.
- Didn't cook through? No worries! Just put the squash into the microwave on 2 minutes and it should be completely done after that.
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| Ta-dah! Cooked completely through. |
- Remove the dark skin on the outside with a knife and mash the squash getting out as many lumps as possible. Get it as smooth as you can. Refrigerate the mashed squash for about an hour.
- While the squash is cooling, start the filling. Season the pork with the 2 tbsps of soy sauce and a tsp of sugar. Stir with the pork to make sure that the soy sauce and the sugar are well incorporated.
- Using a medium skillet on medium-high heat, add the pork and mushrooms. Cook until the pork is fully cooked through- no pink allowed!
- Put the filling in the fridge to cool.
Ready? Time to get to work:
- Put a piece of saran wrap in your hand and spoon about 3 tbsp of the mashed squash into the saran wrap in your hand. Flatten out the mash into a thin disc in your saran wrapped palm.
- Fill it with about a tbsp of the pork and mushroom filling and then gather the saran wrap together so that you can roll it around slightly so that it forms a ball inside the saran wrap.
- Remove the ball from the saran wrap. Repeat until you have used up all the mashed kabocha squash. This should make about 10 croquettes.
Now, to get them ready to fry:
- Set up your battering station- crack the egg into a bowl and lightly beat it. Put the flour in its own bowl next to the beaten egg. Empty the panko breadcrumbs into a bowl on the other side of the egg.
- Gently take one ball at a time and first, roll it in the flour until it is completely coated.
- Then, roll it in the egg. This step is important. In order for the panko to stick, the ball must be well coated in the egg.
- Drop the egg-covered ball into the panko bowl and make sure it's entire covered with the crumbs. Make sure that there are no wet spots on the outside of the ball. It should feel completely dry when you're done.
- Pour the canola oil into a medium pot. The oil should fill about 2 inches up the side of the pot. Turn the heat on medium-high for about 10 minutes or, if you have a thermometer, heat the oil until it reaches around 325 degrees.
- Drop the panko covered balls in two at a time and fry about 3 minutes on each side- total of 6 minutes.
- Remove the croquettes and shake them off gently over the pot to remove excess oil and place on a paper towel covered plate. This will help to get off any extra oil on the outside of the croquette.
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| Sizzle, sizzle. |
- What's left? Nothing! Just eat it!
Enjoy them with your favorite sauces. I dipped mine in Sriracha hot sauce and I would highly recommend that! They would probably be really yummy dipped into spicy mayo or hoisin sauce. Just be careful when you take that first bite because they will definitely be hot!
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