Korokke / コロッケ

Today I made korokke with Yukari-sensei and they turned out fabulously! This deep-fried dish reminds me a lot like supplì, an Italian cuisine I that enjoyed eating when I lived in Italy. Unlike supplì, which consists of risotto and a mozzarella center, korokke is made up of potato with hints of meat or seafood. Both of these dishes are coated with egg and breadcrumbs and are popular amongst adolescents.

While making the korokke, Mrs. Yukari gave me a little background history about them. Apparently korokke came about or became more common around the time of World War II. Once the war was over, the Japanese faced domestic crisis and had an economic collapse. During this time only a few could afford luxuries, so the rest had to scrape up whatever they had in order to survive. Meat was expensive, yet potatoes were cheap due to a surplus. They used this staple in a variety of ways, one way which you all know is by making korokke. To add a little flavor to this otherwise dull produce, they used only a small amount of meat for this dish, making it a more hardy and enjoyable meal. Nowadays though, children in Japan beg for their parents to buy them korokke because they think it's a Western food, but I've never had anything like this here in America. Have you?