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Japanese Pumpkin Croquette (Kabocha Korokke)

The crispiest vegan pumpkin croquette paired with a umami and sour tonkatsu sauce. Eat it on its own or try it in a onigirazu!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: croquettes, pumpkin, vegan
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups kabocha squash cubed
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

For frying

  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 cup plant milk
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Tonkatsu Sauce

  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp date syrup
  • splash of water to dilute

Instructions

  • Microwave the pumpkin for 3 minutes on high with a lid until soft. You could also steam it.
  • Combine cooked pumpkin with salt, black pepper, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
  • In 3 separate bowls, arrange the ingredients needed for frying in this order: corn starch, plant milk and panko breadcrumbs.
  • If you're making onigirazu, you can take this time to cook your sushi rice and prepare other ingredients to include - I used sesame crusted tofu, thinly shaved cucumbers and avocado.
  • Make the tonkatsu sauce.
  • Take the pumpkin out of the fridge and roll it into a patties with your hand. Coat evenly in corn starch, followed by plant milk and lastly, panko breadcrumbs.
  • Heat up some oil in the pan. Shallow or deep fry it until crispy.
  • Assemble it in an onigirazu using the tortilla wrap hack (in the video above) and you have yourself a beautiful meal.

Notes

This recipe makes about 5 pumpkin croquettes about 1-2cm in thickness.