I made a huge batch of braised pork in my pressure cooker, and after eating my fill and still having tons of leftovers, I thought, hmmm what can I do with these scraps? I was thinking about making a meat pie but changed my mind and decided to make some croquettes instead. Just to mix things up, I made them more like little balls/cubes rather than the typical cylinders of classic croquettes.
They turned out fantastic! As always, when the ingredients are good, it’s hard for the final product to be bad. However, I had to add 2 tablespoons of flour to the filling to get the mixture to have more consistency, the problem was that I added the meat with too much sauce. I should have drained and squeezed the meat really well before adding it to the filling (it’s a good point! hehehe).
As you can see in the photos, the meat is super moist, and the final result wasn’t bad at all, but you can see that the filling still turned out a bit liquid. It would have been even better without the extra flour, the recipe anyways is adjusted so it will turn out even better!
This is a fantastic Portuguese-style snack that’s a bit troublesome to make, but it’s absolutely worth it in the end! You can make a huge batch, fry some immediately, and freeze the rest to fry another day, delicious! Let’s get to the recipe!
Traditional Portuguese Braised Pork Croquettes • Croquetes de Porco
Ohh ohhh when leftover braised pork meets crispy perfection, these little golden nuggets will disappear faster than you can say 'mais um!' ;D
Ingredients
- Pork – 1 Tenderloin (+/- 600g)
- Bacon – 4 Slices
- Onion – 1
- Carrot – 1
- Garlic – 4 Cloves
- Red Pepper Paste – 1 Tablespoon
- Cilantro – a pinch
- Milk – +/-140ml (Hot)
- Butter – 100g
- Flour – +/-120g
- Breadcrumbs – As Needed
- Cooking Oil – For Frying (I used Sunflower Oil)
- Paprika – A Pinch
- Pepper – A Pinch
- Salt – A Pinch
Directions
- Start by cooking the meat in a pressure cooker, add the diced meat, followed by the diced bacon, onion, chopped onion and garlic, season with a tablespoon of chili paste and a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, fry a little in the pressure cooker.
- When the meat has browned, add a little water until it almost covers the meat, close the cooker and cook for about 45 minutes at maximum pressure.
- Once the meat is cooked, release the pressure from the cooker and drain the meat. You can save the liquid to make soup or to help make the béchamel sauce for the croquettes (replace some of the milk with the meat cooking liquid).
- Start preparing the béchamel sauce in a small saucepan by adding the butter and flour, let it melt and start to form a ball of dough, cook the dough ball for a few minutes.
- When the dough begins to brown, start adding the hot milk (or hot milk with some of the braising meat sauce), mix well, then add a little more until you have no more milk. You want to create a very thick béchamel sauce, so when you get a thick dough, there is no need to add more milk.
- Then add the shredded and well-squeezed meat, with a little chopped coriander, mix and that’s it. Taste the dough and adjust the salt and pepper.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours to settle.
- Once the mixture has cooled, it will be less sticky and more moldable. Prepare a bowl with breadcrumbs and then shape the mixture into balls (or the traditional cylinders) and roll them in the breadcrumbs.
- Now you can heat the oil and fry them until they are golden brown (the filling of meat and bechamel is already cooked, so you just have to be careful with the outside).
- Or you can freeze them as they are in an airtight container and when you want to make them, you can fry them straight from the freezer without any problems.
- Once golden fried, drain on kitchen paper or a draining rack and enjoy!
You can also make them in the oven or air fryer if you want it a bit less caloric, its not the same but its still good, if possible just sprinkle a bit of oil on top to make them extra crispy or they will be a bit more crunchy than crispy! ;D
I used a small piece of pork loin that I cut into cubes, but you can buy pork shoulder without any problems.
Make sure to drain and squeeze the braised meat really well before mixing with the béchamel to avoid a watery filling, you want the meat moist but not wet.
Your béchamel should be thick enough to hold its shape when cooled. If it seems too thin, cook it a bit longer to evaporate excess moisture.
These croquettes freeze beautifully! Make a big batch, freeze them breaded but uncooked, and fry straight from frozen when you want a quick snack.
Keep your frying oil at 180°C (350°F) for the perfect golden crust without burning, dont overcrowd the frying pan.
These are perfect as appetizers, party snacks, or even as a light meal with a simple salad.
Save some of the pork braising liquid and use it to replace part of the milk in your béchamel for extra meaty flavor!
Also you can mold them any way you want, you can go the classic cilinder or balls or cubes hehehe 😀
This recipe for Traditional Portuguese Braised Pork Croquettes • Croquetes de Porco was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Croquetes de Porco Guisado foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.
Nutrition
Per Serving: 164 calories; 10.3 g fat; 9.5 g carbohydrates; 8.8 g protein.Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out for you! Do you like these kind of fried snacks? Leave a comment below ;D
