Vegan Japanese korroke recipe

"What's so great about Masterchef?" asks my other half whenever I put it on. "I don't get it. It's not as good as Come Dine with Me."

He's got a point. It isn't - but I can't turn it off. Maybe it's the culinary masochism - the trembling, teary amateur cooks, occasionally big, burly men who look like they'd be more at home with the Hell's Angels, who put their dishes up for culinary flagellation week after week, and offer up their dreams to be crushed, while I sit here, safely behind my computer, doodling out a recipe now and again.

They make fillets of this on a bed of that, with a sauce of whatever and some crushed spuds on the side.

I've cut to the chase and crushed some spuds for the purposes of making korroke - the Japanese croquettes that are comforting, childlike food and which I normally avoid because they're dipped in eggs. Here's the vegan version.

Korroke

Ingredients

Half a large carrot, chopped into small dice

2oz of frozen peas, defrosted

2oz of sweetcorn

Around one pound of potato, cut into inch wide dice

One heaped tablespoon of cornflour

One and a half tablespoons of soy sauce

Salt and pepper

Soy milk

Flour

Panko breadcrumbs (normal breadcrumbs will do too!)

How you do it

Boil the carrots for three minutes until almost cooked. Drain, and set aside.

Boil the potatoes until well cooked and then mash - feel free to leave the skin on, it gives a better texture and fibre too. Mash as finely as you can.

Stir in the soy sauce and then the cornflour.

Add the salt and pepper - be generous with both!

Shape the mixture into patties, then dip in flour, then soy milk, and then panko breadcrumbs, until all the patties are coated in panko.

Shallow fry in oil for a couple of minutes each side until golden brown.

Put the patties on a baking tray and then bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 degrees.

Serve with tomato ketchup and some Masterchef, if you fancy.