I chanced upon these crumbed potato cakes in the frozen foods section at my local Japanese grocery store. I’m a big fan of potato croquettes, and I took a fancy to these particular ones because of the ingredients – seaweed and cod roe. I’ve never tried potato cakes with this combination of fillings before, so I bought them for yet another taste test at home.
The Japanese sure know how to entice you with their quirky packaging and photoshopping skills - $5.95 for a pack of 6.
The potato cakes were bite-size, and easy to prepare. I just heated them in the microwave on high for 1 minute and they were done! Surprisingly they stayed crispy and didn't go soggy.
The cod roe oozed out when I cut it in half - and it wasn't as fishy as I thought it would be. The potato was very smooth and creamy just like powdered mash. Everything tasted pretty artificial but it was still flavoursome and salty. There wasn't much seaweed though, only little green specks that I could hardly see let alone taste. It tasted much better dipped in mayo!
A close-up of whole cod roe on the packaging.
These would make a good snack for those peckish moments, or served as a side dish with some hot rice. Not very good value for money considering their size and amount though.