Thursday, July 21, 2011

From the Temple of Japan~Carrot Croquettes

I got this Carrot Croquettes recipe from 'The Enlightened Kitchen' (Fresh Vegetable Dishes from the Temples of Japan) by Mari Fuji. This recipe book is based on the centuries-old vegetarian cuisine of Japan's Buddhist temples which is very interesting and healthy. What interesting about this croquettes that it uses tofu and peanuts instead of usual mashed potato mixed with ground meat for protein. This croquettes will look very good in bento (lunchbox). The key to making this dish is the removal of all excess moisture from the tofu.
Our weird looking Afghanistan carrots were the main star for this dish.
Short middle size shaped carrots were saved for Rayyan as a dummy (puting in Malaysia Language). Preventing him sucking on his fingers until its red and blister under supervision while cooking these days. Hopefully that way he will have more nutrition intake instead. He likes to chew the carrots which is good.
Ingredients:
1 Block Firm tofu (450gram)
300gram carrots, peeled and sliced into thin half-rounds
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon crushed peanuts (or roughly chopped walnuts)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
All-purpose flour, for dusting
40gram all-purpose flour, mixed with 3 tablespoon water
1 cup (60gram) dried breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 Lemon or lime, cut into wedges 

Wrap the tofu in a paper towel or tea towel, place a plate on top and refrigerate for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
Boil the carrot for 10minutes in just enough water to cover until soft, then drain. Return the carrots to the pan and place over low heat until any remaining liquid evaporates, then mash.
In a bowl, combine the tofu, crushed peanuts, mashed carrots, salt and cornstarch and mix well. 
Make oval-shaped croquettes and dust evenly with flour.
Coat the croquettes with the flour-and-water mixture, dip in the breadcrumbs and deep-fried until golden brown.
Our first happy customer.
A peek inside.
Good healthy food for picnic with the family.
There are many interesting dish I would like to try to make from this recipe book but I can't find dried konbu in any Asian grocery stores. Many of the recipe need konbu stock as the based ingredient.

19 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

Now those look really good. Cute photo of Rayyan.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Malar said...

Very healthy indeed! I should try! Rayyan look so cute! A Happy customer i guess!

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden said...

What a handsome little man Rayyan is. I love his dark eyes. Your carrot croquettes look yummy and would be fun to try.

Sherry said...

These croquettes sound interesting and they look yummy. I like the "bombs" you made, too. They look like something I had when I was a kid.

Btw, is there a specific variety name for those Afghanistan carrots? I can't seem to find the seeds when I googled it.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG dear,
So this is basically bergedil lobak merah dan tahu... Looks like a very happy customer there. har har har *evil laughs*

Jody said...

How creative. They look delicious, and the kids like them too. You can't beat that.

tina said...

Oh they look so good and your boy is adorable!

Stephanie said...

This is a nice recipe too! I am going to keep it for future use. Thanks for sharing :-D

cikmanggis said...

resepi yang sihat ni..eh comelnya rayyan:)

littlekarstar said...

Your carrots look amazing! Rayyan is so cute with a carrot 'dummy'!

lena said...

hi, nice to know you! YOur carrot croquettes sounds delighting ! YOur son must have enjoyed eating these a lot!will drop by more often here!

Kelli said...

The recipes in your last two posts look really good. You seem to have great cooking skills! Kelli

CathJ said...

How I wish I can plant those carrots... ^_^

Message: I just read your comment saying something about black pearl winner?? Not sure if you salah org.. coz Tidak ingat if I entered any contest.. hihihi.... anyway.. my email cj.simplelife@gmail.com

JGH said...

How fun to see photos of Rayyan - how adorable is he?!

These croquettes look yummy. When I was in Japan I visted a monastery where the monks cooked and served all-vegetarian meals. I tasted so many unique things. It was probably the most memorable meal I had there.

rainfield61 said...

The carrots really look weird, but are healthy and fresh from your garden.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Cher~ Good and healthy.

Malar~ A very nice vegetarian snack. I can eat them many and not worry much about the calories.

Jennifer~An interesting experience in the making of it.

Sherry~I actually got the seeds from a seedsaver group based in Alice Spring. I never found the seeds in our local seeds catalogue either. So this year I decided to collect Afghanistan carrot seeds. Hopefully we have success collecting this carrot seeds. I can post some of the seeds to you later.

Cat-from-Sydney~I found its hard to call it "bergedil" because I will always mispronounce it as "berdegil".

Jody~Something different once in a while :).

Tina~ He just woke up and hungry like a bear.

Stephanie~Hope you have fun with this recipe too.

Cikmanggis~Sesuai untuk jaga badan...hehehe...

Mrs Bok~His dummy is always missing since the brother likes to hide it too.

Lena~Its a fun time with the family. Thank you for dropping by.

Kelli~I only selected the ones which is easy to follow. I got lost if I read recipe with too many ingredients on it.

Ewa~Will be good for the baby too.

CathJ~Will write you an email soon.

JGH~I also have many memorable meal in Japan. What I like about Japanese food is that I can eat a lot of it without gaining any much weight.

Rainfield61~I am glad that I got the chance to grow this carrot.

Rosie Gan said...

I have to put in my opinion...Rayyan is so cute he should be a model!
Rosie

Sherry said...

Thank you very much, Diana! That's very nice of you.

I disliked eating carrots before I started gardening. Now I love growing different varieties and colors of carrot. Pulling them is so much fun. Freshly-pulled carrots smell so nice and taste so sweet. It's funny how gardening change your views about vegetables.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Rosie~Rayyan is very cheeky nowadays...hehehe...

Sherry~Me too, I use to dislike many kind of vegetables before I start gardening. Now I try find many ways to cook them so our family member will enjoy the gifts from the garden. I never grow perfect looking carrots. But I find that it is fun to anticipate what carrot shape I will pull out from the soil.