Do fish have balls? Nope, neither do potatoes… But these aren’t really the original cocretas or croquettes, more of a mongrel version made by our cook, so I renamed them. Crocretas de bacalao (salted cod) or jamon are made with mashed potatoes and breadcrumbs and deep fried. Our version takes leftover fish from a humongous baked lapu-lapu, remove the bones and flake the meat. Next, saute some onions, tomatoes and herbs and add the flaked fish and use this as the stuffing. Make sure your stuffing isn’t too wet. Meanwhile with leftover or newly made mashed potatoes, take a generous spoon full and place it in the palm of your hand…
Add a little filling to the center of the potato and roll this gently until you get a ball of mashed potatoes with some filling in the middle. It should be a little larger than a golf ball. Next, roll this gently in panko or japanese breadcrumbs and fry it in hot oil until just golden. Yum. The Kid and I like it with ketchup. Others eat it plain. It is best when hot, and the texture should be light and pillowy rather than heavy and deadly. You can make version with leftover chicken, ham and other protein. These reminded me of large tater tots for some reason, they seemed lighter than usual…
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Cocretas? Crocretas? (We call them croquetas at home) Whatever their name, or their filling, they are utterly delicious when done right! Yummy childhood food!
Now that’s comfort food…
I love crocretas! Great to see your blogs again MM.
Despite your announcement that it will take you 2-3 weeks to get back, I still check your blog daily to see what’s new. Glad I did.
wish i can just reach out and grab a few pieces of jane’s delicious-looking croquettes, which i will eat with garlic mayo, yummo! i just had a sad lunch of overcooked bream fillet with a soggy, albeit tasty potato-galette.
p.s. glad to see you’re back in action!
these look really yummy…
Make them into patties and you have fishcakes instead. At any rate, your fishballs still looks yummy dipped in tartar sauce or just plain apple cider vinegar.
BTW, if I have an abundance of left over mashed potato but no fish, I cheat using canned tuna or salmon, but like I mentioned above, I make fishcakes rather than fishballs.
My fiancee, also named Jane, makes these with leftover food, usually pork giniling and sometimes corned beef. Simple and delicious! We usually pair it with ketchup and mayo!
welcome back,MM! That was fast!
Croquetas are so “madetalye” to make. I’d rather eat them than make them myself :-). I also mix in murang sibuyas (or chives?) and chopped boiled eggs. Gosh! I feel like wanting to have some for merienda even!
I would eat these with mayo and wasabe dip..yummy!!
eat this thai sweet chili sauce… am here in london cant wait to check shops for some supplies to take back with me ;-)
we make a version of this using corned beef. yummy…
Maybe crabmeat will also taste yummy! I’ve only tried potato croquettes that’s why this is an excellent idea from the usual and since we always have the usual steamed crabs, crabmeat would be intersting to stuff in yummy potato balls!
When made with flaked saltcod this amounts to a Brazilian national dish, bolinhos de bacalhau. You can get carried away with these if eaten in conjection with caipirinhas.
I meant conjunction. Too many caipirinhas today, it’s Canadian Thanksgiving.
i usually do potato wit fish and ham. . . yummy. . . great photo
The Japanese “Korokke” with the creamy custard corn is our croquette of choice lately. Great to munch on while watching those Gurume Doramas.