#FrannyCooks : Sardines Croquette with King Cup Sardines

Sardines is probably one of those canned goods that I don't think I'll get ever tired of having. That and corned beef. Oh, and also some real good luncheon meat. It has been my fallback food on days when I'm just too lazy to think of what to have for lunch or dinner or when I'm feeling extra picky about the food that's on the table. I personally like my sardines with sunny-side up egg. Regardless if it's the one with tomato sauce, chili tomato sauce or olive oil, I'd happily go for any of those. So, when I got a bag filled with cans of sardines, I wasted no time and I started cooking.

I've been wanting to experiment with sardines for a long time now. Other than to just saute this with garlic, onions and to served is as is, I wonder if potato would go well with sardines too. Here's my personal creation using the basic croquette recipe which I jazzed up a bit more to complement the sardines that I have on hand. One thing that I love about this dish is how easy it is that it will take you less than an hour to prepare and cook. You can also freeze the patties and prepare them later on which makes it a good baon option. 

Sardines Croquette

Yield: 20 pieces

What you'll need:

- 2 cans of King Cup sardines. I mixed the Sardines in Tomato Sauce as well as the  A-1 Sardines in Tomato Sauce Chili. 

- 2 whole potatoes, boiled and mashed 

- 2 eggs

- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs 

- onions, chopped 

- Japanese mayonnaise

- Sriracha 

- pickle relish 

Do it in 7 easy steps:

1) After boiling and mashing the potatoes, set aside and let cool

2) Open the cans of sardines and set aside the sauce from the fish. Mash the sardines. Remove all bones if possible.

3) Mix the potato and sardines together and season with salt and pepper. Add in the chopped onions and you may season with a bit of curry powder (optional). Add breadcrumbs and continue to mix.
4) Form into small bite-sized balls and place them on a non-stick surface/plate. Press gently to make it into a mini patty
5) Chill the formed patties in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
6) Using a frying pan, pour in 2 cups of oil and heat it up. Fry each patty until it turns golden brown. I recommend flipping it every 2 minutes on each side.
7) Drain out the oil and transfer to a nicer plate.

To make the sauce:
1) Mix together Japanese Mayonnaise, Sriracha and Pickle Relish.

Personal note:
I like the sardines very much. I noticed that it's really packed as in your get 5-6 whole pieces of sardines per can. That's quite a lot as compared to other competing brands in the market. It made me wonder how they managed to fill such a tiny can with that much sardines, guess..they're really packed like sardines. Haha!

King Cup Sardines is available in all leading supermarkets nationwide.