Thanksgiving Leftover Croquettes (고로케)

Here is a dish that I had for lunch today and was thoroughly proud of myself. Call it croquette, croquetas, korokke, or goroke (고로케) as I call it, it usually takes a while to prepare from scratch. But with the leftover dishes from Thanksgiving Day, flavorful ingredients for croquettes are already prepared in the fridge. Following the Japanese/Korean version, I use panko for breading which results in a crispier coating.

The recipe below is approximate. You need to remember only a couple of basics for this dish. Chop all ingredients to small pieces. Mix in enough mashed potato to hold all the ingredients together. Feel free to loosen up the potato mix with milk or heavy cream, which will result in a cremier texture after frying. If it's too loose to begin with, mix in bread crumbs. Either way, you still have to be able to form a flat disk or a ball or a stick and not fall apart. No matter how many pieces you make, choosing equal-sized trays, big enough to lay out most if not all croquettes will help you work on the breading process faster, easier and cleaner.

I feel like I accomplished something by making, eating and writing about croquettes today. Let me go back to doing nothing now. Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanksgiving Leftover Croquettes (고로케)
Yield - 22 2-inch Disks

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups Mashed potato
2 cups Cooked turkey, chopped
1 1/2 cup Roasted brussels sprouts, chopped
4 Eggs
Pinch Salt
1 cup All-purpose flour
2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Neutral-tasting cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix together mashed potato, chopped turkey, chopped brussels sprouts, 1 egg and pinch salt together. If it's too loose, mix in bread crumbs. If it's too dense, mix in milk. Either way, when you shape it into a disk, it should hold its shape. Take a spoonful of the mix (for consistency, I used a small cookie scoop) and squeeze a couple of times so that the potato mix holds together, then press to form a flat disk. Repeat with the rest of the potato mix.

2. Set up a breading station. It's easier, faster, and cleaner to do this on equal-sized trays where you can do each step for all potato disks once or in 2~3 batches. I used quarter-sized sheet pans. Place all-purpose flour, 3 eggs, panko bread crumbs on 3 separate trays. Make egg wash by whisking eggs with a splash of water and a pinch of salt.

3. Dredge potato disks in flour, then dip in egg wash and finally coat in panko bread crumbs. Go through each step all at once if you have big enough trays, or do it in 2~3 batches.

4. Heat oil in a heavy pot. The oil should be hot, but not smoking. When you add a piece of bread crumb in oil and it bubbles and floats up right away, it's ready. In batches, deep-fry breaded potato disks. Once they float and turn golden brown, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

5. Serve warm as is or with tonkatsu sauce, ketchup, or mustard. It goes well with a hot bowl of rice or wine.

When I went out for my early morning walk yesterday, I ran into a group of floats getting ready for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Here are a few photos I took...