Is this the same as the Wagamama yasai katsu curry?

Although this is very similar to the Wagamama yasai katsu curry, this isn’t the same as that one. The Wagamama version comes with whole slices of sweet potato and aubergine, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried until golden and crispy. My version of the vegetarian katsu curry uses croquettes, which are what you would normally see in Japan. I also prefer croquettes as they give me more freedom as to what veggie to put in them.

Ingredients

½ onion, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
A pinch of salt and pepper
180g Japanese sushi rice or other white rice
2 cube Japanese curry cube
A dash of double cream
6 vegetarian croquettes

Method

1. Boil the diced sweet potatoes and butternut squash for 15 minutes until fork tender. Strain them in a colander and place them into a large mixing bowl.
2. Meanwhile, fry ½ diced onions in a tablespoon of oil until soft and translucent. Add to the mixing bowl.
3. Season your sweet potatoes, squash and onions with salt, black pepper and curry powder.
4. Mash them together and mix well.
5. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions.
6. Roll them into balls and place them in the freezer for 15 minutes (do not skip this step or you will have a difficult time coating them).
7. In the meantime, cook rice according to package instructions.
8. In a frying pan, add a bit of oil and add the rest of the diced onion and diced carrot and cook for 5 minutes until they are slightly browned and softened.
9. Add curry cubes, break up and mix with the onions and carrot. Add in water in small amounts, gradually until you have a thick sauce. At this point, you can put the sauce in a blender and blend until you have a smooth sauce, but I prefer having little pieces of onion and carrot in the sauce as it is.
10. Let it simmer while you prepare the rest of the meal.
11. In three separate bowls, add cornflour to one, 1 large beaten egg in the second one, then breadcrumbs in the third.
12. Coat each ball in the cornflour until evenly coated, then coat in the egg and lastly cover with panko breadcrumbs.
13. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. To test if the oil is ready for deep frying, put a bit of breadcrumb in it and look for bubbles. If you spot bubbles, it’s ready.
14. Deep fry korokke for 3 minutes, flipping over halfway until golden crispy brown. Remove from oil and let rest.
15. Stir in double cream in the katsu curry sauce until you have the desired consistency.
16. Serve sweet potato korokke on a bed of rice, top with the katsu curry sauce.

Have you tried korokke and what do you think about them? Share with me in the comments below! You can also join my email list to get new recipes in your inbox 🙂

Janice xx