Subject: Re: japanese potato blobs
Newsgroup: rec.food.cooking

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From: idlewild
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996,
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anyway, i've had a desire for this weirdo japanese side-dish called... "Korokke" (i think). none of my cookbooks have anything even remotely similar to it, but i'll try to describe it.

it's kind of like tater tots - ie deep fried shredded or mashed potato blobs - sometiems they have bits of ground pork (or beef?) in it - i think the the potato is seasoned (just salt?) before frying...

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From: Sheryl Seel (seel at lclark.edu)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 09:16:31 -0700
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I believe I read somewhere that the origin of this dish is the French "croquette" (note the similar sound of the two words). I'm not sure of the exact translation, but there's a verb in French "croquer" which means "to bite", and I think it implies that you're biting into something crispy / crunchy. So a croquette is a small crispy thing that you bite. Can't help you out with a recipe, sorry.

I had a nice meal at Chateaulin in Ashland, Oregon, last weekend, and one of the side dishes was a light, fluffy ball of mashed potatoes that had been deep fried. I wonder if that's a French croquette? I had the impression that some flour & eggs had been mixed into the potatoes to help them stick together & lighten during the deep frying.

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From: Steve Kramer (stevekra at gol.com)
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 17:09:32 -0700
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Quite correct! These potato blobs (that is what they really are) are very simple to make, and are often eaten on a hamburger bun here in Japan. Frankly, I'll take a kanish over a coroke any day!!