Japanese make so many delicious little fried treats and these are one of my favorites.  I wanted to put curry but I had too many objections so I threw in a bit of creole seasoning to give it a little flavor.  I shaped them into triangles like onigiri since I was also craving those.  Time consuming but worth the effort.

3 pounds Potato

1/2 pound Beef, ground

1 Onion, finely diced

1 Carrot, finely diced

1/2 Zucchini, finely diced

2 Tbsp Garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Mirin

1 Tbsp Pepper, fresh ground

3 Tbsp Creole Seasoning, to taste

1 Tbsp Butter

1 cup Flour

6 Eggs

3 Tbsp Salt

5 cups Panko

1.  Fill stockpot of water and add salt bring to boil.  Peel and dice potato into similar size and add to pot.  Continue to dice all the other vegetables.

2.  In a large frying pan, melt butter add onions and garlic and cook over medium high heat till onion is translucent.  Add remaining vegetables and ground beef.  Saute and add Mirin, soy sauce and pepper.  Continue to cook seasoning with creole seasoning to taste.  Set aside to cool.

3.  Drain potatoes and mash.  Do not mash evenly, leave larger pieces to add texture.  Add vegetables and meat and continue to mix.  Season to taste with more creole seasoning.  Chill in freezer while washing dishes and preparing flour, egg wash and panko dredge.

4.  Once station is cleaned, remove from freezer and should be cool to touch.  Form small patties into any shape you desire.  If you have the time, I would freeze them after shaping for another hour to make dredging much easier.  Begin preheating oil to 350F.

5.  Dust croquette in flour then egg wash and lightly pat into Panko making sure that it is fully coated.  Repeat until all the croquettes are finished.

6.  Drop croquettes into fryer or frying pan with heated oil.  Do not put too many if you have froze them or they will lower the oil temperature too quickly.  Fry to a golden brown and serve or freeze for later use.