I hope everyone had a great weekend. We enjoyed our stay-cation in Half Moon Bay as I mentioned in my previous post. Half Moon Bay is located along the coastline of California and it’s about 23 miles south of San Francisco. From where we live, it only takes us 30 minutes or so to get there.
It’s a rustic coastal town with amazing Pacific Ocean views. We enjoyed eating lots of seafood, swimming in the very warm indoor pool, and having a nice Sunday brunch at the hotel. I shared some of the food pictures from my iPhone on my facebook page, but my husband will be posting his very first (and last?) post about our Sunday brunch review tomorrow on Just One Cookbook. Although it’s not our regular posting day, I hope you will come and say hello to my husband.
When I posted Korokke (Japanese croquette that is usually made of potato and meat) recipe on my website about a month ago, I received a request for Japanese Creamy Croquette from one of the readers. I’m sorry it took a long time for me to post this recipe, but thank you for patiently waiting for this recipe and I hope you like it.
Both kinds of croquettes are very popular in Japan. Since my dad likes potatoes, my mom usually cooked regular croquettes and it was more like a treat to eat creamy kind. This time I put corn inside so my kids will enjoy eating them more since they are crazy about corn.
To be honest, this is not easy to make. The mixture tends to be very sticky, and it’s tough to make ball/patty shapes. But I’m very sure, and my family would also agree, that it’ll be worth your effort. Enjoy!
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Creamy Crab Croquette
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 onion
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter (for cooking the onion)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 ¼ cup milk (at room temperature)
- 1 can crab meat (6 oz, 170 g; you can use fresh crab meat as well)
- ½ cup frozen or canned corn
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For Coating
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (beaten)
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (for coating your hands)
For Deep Frying
- neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
Instructions
For the Crab and Corn Filling
- Cut onion in half and slice the onion with a slicer.
- In a large non-stick frying pan, heat butter on medium-low heat. Add sliced onion and sauté until translucent.
- When the onion is translucent, turn off the heat. Then add flour and mix well. Turn the heat back on and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the milk in, a little at a time, stirring in order to eliminate lumps and to make a smooth, thick Béchamel sauce. Keep stirring over low heat for 5-10 minutes. You want your sauce to be the consistency of thick mustard.
- Add crab meat and corn and cook off as much moisture as possible while stirring. Season it with salt and pepper. Take off from heat and allow to cool.
- Spread the mixture on the bottom of a baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 1 hour. If you don’t chill the mixture enough, the croquette might explode while deep frying from the moisture.
- After 1 hour, prepare the three bowls: one with flour, one with 2 beaten eggs (add 2 Tbsp oil in here), and one with Panko. Divide the chilled mixture into 10 equal portions.
- Lightly coat your hands with olive oil and scoop each portion out to make a small round cake, followed by dredging in the flour, diping into the egg, and then coating with Panko. Repeat this process with all the croquettes. Cover them with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
To Fry
- In a large frying pan, heat ½ inch of oil on medium-high heat. When it’s hot (350ºF/180ºC), fix the shape of the croquettes and slip them into the oil to deep fry. Do not crowd the pan (maybe 4-5 at a time) and do not disturb them until the bottom side is golden brown. Then flip and wait till the other side also turns golden brown. Transfer the croquettes onto a paper towel and serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for a month. Reheat in the oven or the toaster oven until the outside is crispy and the inside is warm through.
