Creamy King Crab Croquette/Korokke
Once you take a bite, after a loud, audible crunch from its crispy exterior... your tongue will be greeted with naturally sweet + savory king crab meats infused with creamy, homemade béchamel sauce!
“For this recipe, I steamed king crab claws/legs in a baking dish and hand-picked the meat inside. Removing cartilage inside (the white translucent plates in the center) is definitely a must! You should be able to find frozen king crab legs pretty easily at seafood specialty or gourmet grocery stores."
So… I have been half-joking to many that I’d definitely include this dish as a part of my last meal—if I get to choose my last meal on earth. It’s because they are the BEST: super crunchy panko-crumbed outside & heavenly filling of naturally sweet king crab meats embedded + infused with creamy béchamel sauce.
But the truth is, this dish is perfect for really any occasion…not just sad ones.
In fact, I’ll be making this dish for a New Year celebration with family. It’s been known that classic champagne flavors pair well with crispy + savory food like fried chicken and kettle chips…so why not enjoy your holidays with creamy king crab croquette/korokke with a glass of champagne?
The recipe I am sharing here is adapted from Mark Robinson’s Izakaya: the Japanese pub cookbook. In the original recipe,, fresh or canned crabmeat is used but I decided to up my game by using freshly steamed king crab legs instead! If you can’t find king crab legs for some reason (because…eh. pandemic shortage), substituting king crab meat with regular crab meat should be just fine. Another great substitute is snow crab meat—which tends to be cheaper than king crab meat.
Creamy Crab Croquette/Korokke (Kani Kurimu Korokke):
adapted from the cookbook Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook (Robinson, 2012)
Makes 8 korokkes (serves 4-5 people as main course)
<Ingredients>
- Canola or vegetable oil to fry
For making korokke:
- Approximately 4 1/2 oz. or 130g of king crab meat (with shells + cartilage removed)
- 1/2 cup of white onion (chopped finely)
- 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil
- 1 large hard-boiled egg (chopped finely)
- 1/4 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. of salt (Please NO SALT is needed if using frozen king crab legs. Frozen king crab legs are already salty.)
For making béchamel sauce:
- 2 tbsp. of unsalted butter (30g or 1oz. to be more exact)
- 2 tbsp. of flour (30g or 1oz. to be more exact)
- 1 1/2 cup of whole milk
For breading:
-1 whole bag of panko bread crumbs (more you have is better! If you are making these a day ahead, you might want to put down a layer of panko bread crumbs underneath yet-to-be-fried korokkes in a baking dish—when they are stored temporarily in a fridge)
-Flour to coat
-2 -3 eggs beaten
0. Prep work(if using frozen king crab legs):
[0.1]Preheat the oven to 400 F. While the oven is heating up, wash the frozen king crab legs with some cold water under a faucet. Put the frozen king crab legs in a large baking dish that fits their legs (I usually use a large Pyrex glass baking dish).
[0.2]Pour in a little bit of water inside the baking dish (1/8 cup) and cover up the large baking dish with an aluminum foil and steam for 18 minutes. This steaming process may take a little longer if your crab legs are larger than average size!
[0.3]After they are done steaming, take them out and let them cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, use pair of scissors to cut open the claws and remove cartilage (the white translucent plate inside their juicy meats).
[0.4]Weigh your king crab meat so that you have 4 1/2 oz. of its pure meat ready to be used for korokke building!
***AGAIN, feel free to use canned crabmeat if you are short on time! ; ) Nobody is judging you if you decide to!
1. Sauté finely chopped onions at a medium-high heat in a large frying pan until they are lightly browned. Set them aside. We will come back to this pan in step 4.
2. In a separate pot/or a dutch oven, stir in the butter at a medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, pour in flour a little by little while constantly stirring with a whisk/or a wooden spoon so that there are no lumps forming.
3. Slowly add the milk to the mixture in a pot while stirring. Constant stirring is so important when making this creamy béchamel sauce for korokke! Please don’t let your mixture burn! You want to bring this mixture to a simmer & cook until there is no more floury taste remaining. When finished, the mixture should have a thickness like a firm mustard-like consistency. Hooray! Now you have béchamel sauce!
4. In a large frying pan with lightly browned onions, add the king crab meats and cook off the moisture at a medium-low heat for 3 minutes.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the king crab + onion mixture and the béchamel sauce. Add finely chopped boiled egg too. Mix them well so all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Taste and add freshly ground black peppers. This is the perfect time to see if the mixture is tasting savory and delicious. Add more salt if needed.
6. Place a plastic wrap over the large mixing bowl with king crab korokke mixture in a fridge for at least an hour.
7. Prepare the breading station by having three separate dishes containing flour, beaten eggs, and panko bread crumbs. Once the mixture has cooled down and solidified, use your hand to shape them into little flat-oval shaped balls. This should generate about 8 korokkes. Using your hand, gently coat each korokke with flour, egg mixture then panko bread crumbs.
**I like to make these a day before the big dinner party and save them in a fridge. This way, you can just fry them up once the guests arrive! I like to add a layer of panko bread crumbs at the bottom of a large baking dish before lining my korokke up so that korokke stays dry in the fridge overnight.
“I like to make these a day before the big dinner party and save them in a fridge. This way, you can just fry them up once the guests arrive! I like to add a layer of panko bread crumbs at the bottom of a large baking dish before placing korokkes so that they stays dry in the fridge overnight.”
8. Pre-heat the oil to 360 F. Gently add korokkes into the oil…making sure the pot is not crowded. Fry them up until they are golden brown. If they are coming straight out of a fridge, first frying them up at a slightly lower heat before increasing the heat to 360 F. is also a great idea! Nobody wants a cold korokke!
ENJOY!
I will be publishing an article about the history and interesting insights related to korokke later this week :) on this blog!
