Crab Cream Croquette Recipe (Kani Kurimu Korokke)

Hi everyone I'm Yuto and today on Stachy I'm going to show you how to make a creamy and delicious Japanese crab cream croquette. Let's get started. First you need a decent sized frying pan, heat on medium low and add 30 grams of unsalted butter. Once it's melted add one medium onion, finely diced and fried until soft and slightly translucent. We don't want to let them brown so be careful of the temperature here. Once it looks like this drain your crab meat and add it to the onions along with one teaspoon of ketchup. In Japan crab meat is sold in 55 grams can like this so I'm using two. If you can get five or six ounce cans instead you can use that whole can, it doesn't need to be exact. Mix it until it's well combined then sift in four tablespoons of all-purpose flour and mix again. We're basically making a roux here and when we add the milk it's going to become thick and creamy. I'm adding 200 milliliters of whole milk so add it a little at a time while whisking to loosen the mixture and prevent lumps. Once all the milk is added season it with a pinch of ground pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, quarter teaspoon of salt and about two tablespoons of meltable shredded cheese. This is gouda but you can use whatever melting cheese you like. Mix that together and then continue to stir over the medium low heat until the mixture has thickened to about the same consistency as mashed potato. I recommend switching to a spatula so that it doesn't get stuck to the whisk. It's also good for scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing gets stuck or burned. Okay this looks good so let's take it off the heat and transfer it to a wide heat proof container. Just spread it out thin to help it cool faster and once it's cool enough to touch cover it and freeze it for about 30 minutes. Keep in mind it's important that the mixture is not frozen solid so be careful not to forget about it. While we wait I'm going to Crack one egg into a bowl and add 15 milliliters of cold water. Whisk dough together and once combined sift in five tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Whisk again until smooth then you can place in the fridge or leave it in a cool place while you wait for the crab cream filling. My crab filling has set nicely so now it's time to shape it. I'm just going to roughly divide this into eight pieces then roll each piece into a barrel shape. I recommend to start heating your oil for deep frying now. The best temperature is between 170 and 180 degrees celsius. I find barrel is the easiest shape for this croquette because freezing makes it quite stiff. Like I mentioned before you want to freeze it until firm not solid otherwise you won't be able to cut and shape it at all. To finish the croquette coat each barrel with dusting of plain flour then a layer of batter and then roll them in a generous coat of panko breadcrumbs. If your oil isn't quite hot enough at this point I recommend placing them back in the freezer just to stop them from losing their shape. You can also prep them in advance then freeze them for up to three weeks if you want to make a larger batch. Once the oil is fully heated gently drop the croquettes into the pot and fry until golden and crispy. My pot is quite small so I fry four at a time and keep the other four in the freezer while I wait. It's important not overcrowd the pan as this will lower the oil temperature and could actually make the croquette fall apart which would be a disaster. When they look like this transfer them to a wire rack to drain off the excess oil. While they drain we can whip up a quick Japanese style croquette sauce. Simply mix two tablespoons of ketchup with one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and that's it. And here they are beautifully crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, with a drizzle of easy croquette sauce and a sprinkle of parsley. And I have a free mobile app now where you can easily follow the steps during the actual cooking. This is a great way to use as an in-kitchen companion after watching my YouTube videos. The download link is in the description. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed this one. If you want to learn more about this recipe check out the written version on my blog. The link's on the screen now. Hopefully see you again in the next video. Until then, happy cooking.