Deep fried breaded potato balls stuffed with meat and veggies. Enjoy these delicious croquettes by themselves or as a wonderful side dish.
Basically the best snack in the world, kroket is extremely popular in Indonesia and was introduced to the country by Dutch influence. The name kroket kentang (kentang meaning potato) originates from the Dutch word kroketten.
I have memories growing up of helping my mom prepare these little fried balls of joy. Now, I sit in my tiny little kitchen and do everything by myself. Sad I know, but what’s not sad is I get to eat these delicious things, and now you can too!
A couple of notes to help you get through this recipe!
1. Make sure the filling is well seasoned.
The meat in the filling is already cooked, so the flavor won’t really change after frying. Taste the filling to make sure you like it.
2. Do NOT substitute milk powder with milk.
Traditionally (meaning my mom does it), you add milk powder to the mashed potatoes to give it some flavor. However! Milk, as I’m sure you know, is liquid, and it will soften the potatoes significantly. This causes them to fall apart, just like your life when you realize you failed at making this because you couldn’t listen to your mom’s basic instructions and you desperately try to scoop out the remnants of your mangled croquette from the hot oil.
…..Anyway, if you don’t have milk powder, just substitute it with a single egg yolk (reserve the egg whites for the egg wash). Or just salt. Or omit it entirely. You do you.
3. Make sure the filling is completely covered by the potatoes.
I mean this is pretty self-explanatory. No cracks = no tragic filling spills.
4. Keep your oil CLEAN!
Use one of those cute little mesh strainer ladle things to remove any debris floating around in the oil. This will keep your croquettes pretty and golden, unless you’d rather eat little bits of burnt shit with these otherwise perfect golden treats.
5. HAVE FUN!
You can make this recipe by yourself, but this recipe is really fun to make with friends and family. You can delegate tasks to others in terms of making the filling, boiling and mashing the potatoes, shaping the croquettes, and the final frying process. These make a great appetizer or side dish, so try these out for your next dinner with your friends!
Indonesian Potato Croquettes (Kroket Kentang)
Ingredients
Potato Mixture
- 600 g potatoes ~3 medium potatoes
- 1 tbsp milk powder or 1 egg yolk (reserve white for egg wash)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- A pinch of nutmeg powder
Filling
- 300 g ground chicken
- 3 medium shallots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 100 g green beans chopped
- 50 g carrot coarsely grated
- 2 stalks green onion chopped
- 1 small bunch coriander rinsed and chopped
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp white pepper
- 1 tsp granulated chicken bouillion optional
Frying
- Oil neutral-flavored
- 1 egg whisked, plus egg white if using egg yolk for potatoes
- 200 g breadcrumbs
Instructions
Potato Mixture
- Rinse potatoes and quarter. Bring a large pot of water to boil and boil potatoes until tender. Peel off the skin.
- While the potatoes are still hot, mash using a potato masher and add milk powder, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg powder.
Chicken Filling
- While potatoes are boiling, heat up some oil in a wok or large skillet. Add ground chicken and cook on medium high. Break apart with spatula, cook for around 5~7 min.
- When chicken is almost fully cooked, add shallot and garlic. Cook for another minute.
- Add the chopped green beans & shredded carrot. Season with salt, white pepper, and chicken bouillon if using. If the filling gets a bit too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of water, or stock. Taste to make sure the filling is well-seasoned.
Frying & Shaping
- Once the potato mixture is cooled, take about 2 spoons and flatten it out in your hand. Press down a small little well with your index and middle fingers.
- Add a spoonful of filling (the amount in the picture is a bit too much) in the middle.
- Slightly squeeze your palm so that the filling caves into the potato mixture, and push the edges of the potato over the filling so it covers it. You can use additional potato mixture if it helps. Make sure there are no cracks in the mixture for the filling to spill out.
- Prepare a plate with breadcrumbs, a bowl of beaten egg wash, and preheat the oil you are using to fry. Dip the croquette into the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Deep fry in small batches until golden brown, or shallow fry each side and watch carefully to ensure even browning. Make sure to scoop out any debris in the oil between batches.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes about 15~20 croquettes, depending on the size. You’ll probably also yield more filling than necessary, but you can eat the leftovers with rice!
- You can choose whether or not you want to deep or shallow fry, so the amount of oil you use will depend. If you want to shallow fry, make sure to turn the croquettes on each side & watch carefully for even browning!
