Biwatomo - Mixed croquette

Biwatomo - Mixed croquette

Mixed croquette - with Unohana and Hijiki

Ingredients

(4 to 5 servings : makes 13 to 14 if made 65 grams each)

Biwatomo - Mixed croquette
  • 4 to 5 middle sized Ebi-imo (Japanese Taro) = 360 grams
    (They come in season from early winter to spring. Use Tondabayashi-made or other Osaka-made)
  • 1 middle sized potato (May queen) = 90 grams
  • Dashi stock (using bones from sea breams or flounder and duck) - suitable amount
  • For breadcrumb coating: flour, egg and breadcrumbs - suitable amount
  • about 180 grams of cooked Unohana (soy bean fiber)
  • about 120 grams of cooked Hijiki

How to cook

Biwatomo - Mixed croquette
  1. Steam the Ebi-imo and May queen, peel off the skin and mash them roughly.
    (after skin is peeled, the total amount would be about 420 grams)
  2. Take 180 grams of (1) and mix it with the same amount of cooked Unohana
  3. Make easy-to-eat size oval balls with (2) and coat it with flour, beaten eggs and then breadcrumbs and fry them in 170 degrees Celsius until they turn light brown
  4. Take 240 grams of (1) and mix it with half that amount (120 grams) of cooked Hijiki
  5. Make easy-to-eat size oval balls with (4) and coat it with flour, beaten eggs and then breadcrumbs and fry them in 170 degrees Celsius until they turn light brown
  6. Both are ready to serve!

Special trick

  • For better taste and easier to peel, steam Ebi-imo instead of boiling them
  • If Ebi-imo is not in season, use aroid or potatoes instead
  • The croquette filling is best mixed with the same amount of cooked Unohana and half the amount of cooked Hijiki
  • You can use ready-made Unohana or Hijiki that you can buy at shops instead of cooking it yourself

Bonus

How to cook Unohana

  1. Make dashi stock from konbu, bonito flakes and fish bones and add sugar, soy sauce and mirin (sweet cooking sake) to taste
  2. Remove the shells from the prawns, cut them into 1cm lengths, add them to the dashi stock and take them out once the dashi starts to boil
  3. Stir-fry the Okara (soybean fiber) with a dash of oil. Then knead it thoroughly by adding small amount of sake at a time
  4. Add a suitable amount of dashi stock, carrots cut into 5cm squares, cloud ear mushrooms and prawns from (2)
  5. Mix (4) and knead until the moisture has dried out
  • The flavor of the dashi stock and the oil combine well with the Okara
  • You can add other fillings as you like, such as konnyaku and chicken

How to cook Hijiki

  1. Rehydrate Japanese made dried Hijiki, drain the excessive water and stir-fry with a dash of oil. Then add dashi stock made from konbu and bonito flakes and simmer for a while
  2. Add sugar, sake, soy sauce and mirin to taste
  3. Cut usu-age, chikuwa and precooked carrots into thin strips and add them to the Hijiki. Leave it to simmer until the dashi is all gone
  • Dashi stock can be made from chicken or pork as well
  • Add other ingredients if you wish, such as konnyaku and beans