Pumpkin Croquettes

Today I didn't have to go to work, so I went to the Asian market and picked up a kabocha pumpkin. I forgot to take a picture of it beforehand, but kabochas are basically cute little green pumpkins with bright orange flesh. My friend Andrea came over and we made croquettes from it. First we cut it into chunks and boiled it to get it nice and tender.

After draining and cooling it we mashed it and mixed it up with the below ingredients (we sauteed the onion first).
We rolled the filling into balls, dredged them in flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs, and fried them in a couple of inches of oil. I didn't manage to get a picture of the frying, but basically I just let them cook until they were a dark gold color. We only fried some of them, the rest we froze on cookie sheets to make later.
These croquettes are very rich and savory, and are absolutely delicious with tonkatsu sauce. Though they are fried, they are mostly pumpkin and onion, both of which are pretty good for you. By frying them quickly and at high heat you get very little grease on the inside. I've made tempura in the same way before, and it turned out really good. I think that next time I cook some of these I'll make some breaded pork cutlets too and have them for dinner together. Yummm.