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Korokke Bento コロッケ弁当

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Korokke Bento with rice and fruits.

Happy Friday!  Although this week was a shorter week for us due to the holiday on Monday, Friday seemed to have taken forever to arrive with all the things going on in our lives.  Here we are with another bento post, and today is my favorite meal, Korokke Bento!

Last week I skipped my bento post due to our family fried trip to the rice mill facility in Nelson, California.  We still need to process a lot of pictures my husband took during the tour, and we cannot wait to share what we learned.  The president of the company and his staff were all very kind and friendly and we had such a fantastic time.  It’s really wonderful feeling to know who’s making the food you are eating and knowing that they care so much about their rice.  For now, I want to share my favorite pictures from the trip that I shared on my Instagram.

Golden color of rice field…beautiful scenery.

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My children’s (and my) highlight of the trip? Riding on this giant harvester!  And that’s the driver Ted.  He’s funny and so great with the kids!

Such a comfortable smooth ride with A/C on.  My children were so excited how the harvester collected rice.

We look forward to sharing what we learned from our trip.  Stay tuned!  Now let’s go back to today’s bento post.

Previous Dinner was:

Korokke, Croquette on a white plate.

This is my version of Korokke which I put minced carrot and shiitake mushroom in regular potato & beef korokke.  My Mom’s Korokke is the classic one.

Lunch Next Day:

Korokke Bento with rice, tomatoes and strawberries.

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Korokke Bento
Korokke Bento with rice, tomatoes and fruit.
Print
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 
Course: Main Course
Servings: 1 Bento
Ingredients
  • cooked Japanese short grain rice
  • Korokke (pre- cooked)
  • Tomatoes
  • 2 strawberries
  • Tonkatsu Sauce (See Notes for homemade recipe)
  • Furikake
Instructions
  1. Fill up half of bento box with Japanese rice. Let it cool so that hot/warm rice will not warm up other cool food.*
  2. Reheat leftover Korokke in oven toaster until it's warm thoroughly.
  3. Pour Tonkatsu Sauce in a little container.
  4. Wash tomatoes and strawberries and pat dry. Place them nicely in the bento box.
  5. Pack cooled Korokke.
  6. Sprinkle furikake on top of slightly cooled rice.
  7. Cool down completely before close the bento box cover.
Recipe Notes

Tonkatsu Sauce: Homemade recipe, click here.

 

[Please read FOOD SAFETY TIPS .]

If you are using a thermal bento box like Thermos, you do not need to cool down before closing lunch box.

This lunch is for my 6-year-old son.

Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.

 

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  4. Eha

    I would love to hug your son for being so lucky to have a mother like you! That bento box looks beautiful: not too heavy, not too light – I bet he finished it all 🙂 ! OK, not big on deepfried items, but they were but a part of what the appetizing choice offered 🙂 ! And [shush!], I prefer yours over your honourable Mom’s! Oh, so loved your ricefield photos!

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  5. 早い金曜日ポストだね。明日は忙しいのかな？コロッケはやはり手作りが一番だと思います。揚げたてのをフーフー言いながら、食べたい！　息子さんラッキーだなあ。そして、農場を見学なんて、勉強になりますね。

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  8. Sam Bear

    Hi Nami, I have a question about when to prepare all of the food for the bento. Do you make the rice and korokke over night and reheat in the morning or just place the food into the box while it’s still cool (at room temperature)? I ask this because I have very little time to prepare food in the mornings!

    Thanks!

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    • Hi Sam!

      I’m terribly sorry for my late response. I also don’t have much time in the morning (I want to sleep as much as possible…); therefore, almost everything is cooked previous night, or I kept them in freezer.

      For example, this korokke can be stored in freezer. I put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning I put it in the toaster oven while I prepare breakfast.

      In Japan, it’s always recommended to “re-heat” bento ingredients before packing, even though you still have to cool down again. It’s a necessity process to keep it longer, especially if you don’t store it in fridge till lunch time.

      When my husband brings lunch, he has fridge at work, so I usually pack at night, and he just brings it straight to work’s fridge. That’s okay if you don’t keep it out for a long time.

      I almost always pack previous dinner into lunch box, and freeze extra (I purposely make extra when my bento ingredients stock is low in freezer).

      I hope this helps. 🙂

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  10. That looks just so cute, Nami. What a lucky little boy : ) I bet the other children are fascinated by his lunch! Love the pics of the rice fields, too..they look so serene.

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  12. What a lovely experience for the kids and you! Those machines are really huge!!! A bit different from Japan or Italy :-). Love the bento, looks so pretty!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  13. Oh wow, you got to ride on a harvester?! That’s so cool… I’ve always thought that must be such a nice thing to do. Farmers are often harvesting wheat in England sometimes very late at night in the summer months, so they can get everything in before the rain and cold weather comes!

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  14. Nami, another stunning bento box lunch! Your kids looked like they had a great time harvesting rice… what a cool experience. Have a wonderful weekend my friend.
    ~ Ramona

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  15. Your kids looked like they were having so much fun, Nami. Can you imagine helping to drive a harvester at that age? Korokke? I’ve learned another new one today. They look absolutely delicious. Please don’t apologise for commenting… my goodness, I don’t know how you do it! Enjoy your weekend, my friend.

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  19. What a cute bento box! If I was your son, I’d enjoy bringing this to school! Nice photos of the trip to the rice mill. Can’t wait to hear all about it and see more photos! I grew up in an agricultural province and your farm photos reminded me of those days. Till next post! Enjoy the coming weekend, Nami & thanks for sharing all these info!

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  20. Your rice trip sounds wonderful! I was very impatient to hear about it and look forward to reading more details soon. I suppose now you have come back with the stock of rice for the whole year. I would buy tons of rice if it was good and if I knew personally the people who made it.
    I think I have already told you korokke is still on top of the list of my favourite Japanese dishes. Especially your korokke because even prepared by a European (I mean me), they taste hundred times better than the ones I tasted in my city’s Japanese restaurants or Tokyo conbini. No comparison!
    You gave me now with this gorgeous bento photo an idea for next week’s lunch box!

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  25. I never knew rice was so pretty! Nice photos, and nice bento. I like the heart on the toothpick – and it’s color works so well with the tomatoes! Good post – thanks.

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  32. I was so enthralled with the Instagram feed during your visit to the rice field. Can’t wait to read more about the adventure 🙂

    ps: You make the most delicious bento box!! Your kids must be so proud of their Mama 🙂

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  33. I could not be more thrilled that it is finally Friday, although I do have to work tomorrow. The rice mill factory pictures are awesome! I totally wish I was there with you. As for this croquette, I absolutely love it! This was my mom’s favorite so we’d always buy one every time we were at the Korean bakery. I definitely need to try this homemade version though!

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  34. I would like to know more about your farm visit. Please share more pictures. I just made a dish called Vegetable Cutlet in India and it looks very similar to your korokke. Instead of deep frying, I cooked it in a saucepan with little oil. Since I am back to South beach diet, I skipped the potatoes and used roasted chickpeas as the binding agent. I think every country has its own version of korokke or cutlet or patties. Whatever we call it, they are all sooooo yum and addictive right?

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  35. Linda | The Urban Mrs

    What a fun trip! Your kid must be excited riding that giant harvester. I love korokke – we have quite similar and we call it kroket. It sounds similar, too, doesn’t it? But we serve it with peanut sauce. The one you have, with carrot and shiitake, absolutely add texture and flavors. Will try this for hubby.

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  38. Can you make me lunch for work? really! These ‘croquettes’ look amazing and lovey with carrots and shitake for a little more flavor. Greta rice field pics, cannot wait to read about the trip.

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  39. I’m hoping to make your beef and potato korokke using some of the beef shank I froze away a while back as soon as I’m on my feet again.

    How lovely that you were able to share the experience of seeing rice grown and harvested with your children. Every child should have that experience while growing up especially those who live in the city. One of my favourite childhood trip memories was going to a local farm where they raised goats and used the milk to make cheese. We got to taste them both from as close to the source as possible. I’ve never forgotten.

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  40. So beautiful to see the golden rice field of California. It reminds me of visiting countryside of Korea around this time of the year to see beautiful golden rice field with farmers harvesting their crops. You korroke looks good and love your bento idea!

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  41. I apparently missed the Korokke from last year so I had to go check it out. What great little croquettes! I love fingerfood like this – crisp on the outside and chewy and tasty on the inside. What a perfect protein for a Bento box. I’m sure the kids loved it! have a fabulous weekend!

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  44. What a lovely lunch for your son. Suddenly sandwiches pale into insignifcance. I’d much rather this bento any day. Sounds like you had both a fun and an educational day out with the family. I think it is so important that kids know the origins of the food they eat. Well done!

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  45. Nami, I’m sure your kids had fun! I fell in love with the mill just by looking at the gorgeous shots. I love korokke with lots of potatoes & especially when it’s hot. I’ve just posted an article on my first solo trip, with a pix of me when I was a kid. Hahaha! Lots of lovely memories flowing back…..

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  47. Ira Rodrigues

    Oh, I cant not stay away from this snack, we all love it! your bento really looks cute, i think i will make it the same for my son lunch box. hihi, I should have the cutie tiny sauce bottle

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  49. I can’t wait to hear more about your mini-break. Those karokke’s look delicious. I love anything with shiitake mushrooms! What a beautiful and colourful lunch box xx

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  52. What a nice activities to visit the rice field. I think it’s always nice to let the kids know exactly where our food are really coming from…(and not from the supermarket as some of them might think!) hahaha…

    And wow, I would love to ride on the giant harvester too! How fun! It’s so nice to be your kids. You always have these beautiful and appetizing bento packed for them. Lucky!

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  54. Nami, these Korokke look so wonderful – they are going to be a sure huge success with the whole family. I am sure that the kids would be more than pleased to bring leftover Korokke to school. The bento box that you prepared with them looks so appetizing!

    P.S.: Just wanted to let you know that I baked your Green Tea & White Chocolate Cookies and blogged about it – they were amazingly delicious, just the kind of cookies I enjoy. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

    Have a terrific Sunday!

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  55. I’ve never seen a harvester before let alone sat in one! How fun it would be!!! I don’t think i’ll ever have leftovers to make bento the next day as my hubby just eats everything up! If you see him, you won’t believe that he’s able to eat so much as he’s quite thin. I need to find ways to fatten him up! haha

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  59. Hi Nami,
    Looks like you”ll had a wonderful trip!
    The bento box looks amazing! Your son is so lucky to have a mother who cooks like the way you do and packs it so beautifully!
    Great job!

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    • Hi Raymund! I’ve seen that before. You know Japanese curry match with a lot of deep fried food, like ebi fry (deep fried shrimp), chicken katsu, etc. 🙂

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  61. This must have been such a great experience for all of you but most importantly for the kids! Our kids live in big cities and somehow they lose the connection with nature and the earth and all the works that have to be done in order for us to enjoy the produce in our plates. Beautiful pictures and the bento delicious!

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  64. How much fun is that? I bet your kids had a blast! I love seeing how things are made, especially when it comes to farming and harvesting food.

    This lunch looks so good! I would love to surprise my husband with a bento box like this one sometime. Now I am off to read the korokke recipe!

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  67. Eri

    Such a beautiful scenery Nami, I will wait for more about your trip. Just like every time I love your Bento, I have to make those korokke soon, yum!

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  69. Nami-san, A big thank you for resolving my issue of not being able to find tonkatsu sauce here in HK on a regular basis. Sometimes they have it and sometimes they are out of it for months. I have booked marked your homemade tonkatsu sauce and will give it a try soon for my pork tonkatsu or for your delicious fried Korokke. Ja Mata, BAM

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  70. I’m loving the bento series! Those korokke seem perfect for lunch (I tend to struggle with eating leftovers of most foods) but I’d happily take this for lunch. That rice mill trip looks fantastic.

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    • Beautiful photo of the rice fields, sounds like a wonderful and informative trip;-)
      Nami, I received a gift of supplies for Bentos- which I admit to storing and never using;-( I am feeling more inspired since you’ve started your Bento series….

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  73. Nami, It is so much fun to see your colorful Bento boxes. I would feel like a VIP if this was sent in my backpack! Your son is so lucky. 🙂 That sauce container and the little heart skewer are adorable touches too! P.S. I was in Half Moon Bay recently and thought of you! We had some great sushi at Sushi Main Street. I only wish that you could have been there too! One day we will meet!

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  75. Sandra

    Dear Nami, thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. 🙂 I’ve made some of them, like the hijiki salad and korokke, and they turned out delicious. May I ask how you keep korokke crunchy when you use them in bento? Thank you in advance!

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    • Hi Sandra! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 There is no perfect crunchiness when it comes to bento. Even you buy from a good bento shop, tempura bento, karaage bento, katsu bento, all the deep fried foods are not crunchy as freshly made. I mean, it’s impossible. We still enjoy those recipes in room temp bento though. But we accept the condition when it’s in bento and used to eat that way in bento.

      You can try your best by toasting the korokke in a toaster oven or frying pan. NEVER microwave it. And after toasted, let it cool completely on wire rack (so moisture won’t be on the bottom). Then when it’s cooled, you can pack in the bento. 🙂 Hope this helps!

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      • Sandra

        Thank you for the quick reply, Nami. 🙂 I can see that you really enjoy teaching and sharing your recipes with us. I will use your tips when I next make a korokke bento!

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