Japanese Creamy Crab Korokke

Method

1. Boil 60g of crab meat until cooked, shred it and cut it into small pieces with scissors. With canned crab, drain it completely and shred it the same way.
2. Dice 60g of onion and 40g of button mushroom.
3. Set a pan over medium heat, add 20g of butter and melt it until it coats the base. Add the onion and stir until it firms up and turns translucent, then add the mushroom and cook together for about 3 minutes to drive off some of the moisture.
4. Lower the heat, add 25g of all purpose flour and stir until it is fully cooked and the raw flour smell is gone.
5. Turn off the heat, pour all 150ml of oat milk into the pan and stir it smooth. Turn the heat to high and keep stirring gently.
6. Once the mixture is hot, add all the crab meat, 1.5g of salt and some ground pepper, and stir over high heat until it thickens.
7. Turn off the heat, spread the mixture onto an oiled tray, level the surface, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until firm.
8. Take the tray out, cut the filling into 6 equal pieces and shape them into rounds or ovals, pressing firmly to force out any trapped air.
9. Roll each piece in all purpose flour, then through 1/2 a beaten chicken egg, and finally through 100g of panko breadcrumbs until fully coated.
10. Heat the oil above 175 degrees C and fry a maximum of 3 at a time for about 2 to 3 minutes in total, until golden, then lift them out to drain.

Tips

• Press the filling tightly with no air pockets inside, or the korokke will burst in the oil.
• Oil the tray first so the filling does not stick to it.
• Crush the panko finely and sift out the large crumbs so it coats more evenly.
• When fresh crab is hard to find, canned crab from the supermarket works, drained thoroughly.
• Oat milk gives the filling a light taste, and constant stirring keeps it from turning lumpy.