Perkedel Daging Kentang - Indonesian Potato Fritters

These are Indonesian potato fritters, as per the direct translation where “perkedel” means fritter and “kentang” means potato. These fried treats are inspired by the Dutch frikandel, which are fried meat patties. Essentially, this recipe is a fusion of the two, featuring a crispy potato coating and a flavourful meaty interior for a satisfying snack! These can also be made vegetarian by omitting the minced meat and adding some veggies, or even by using tofu. Furthermore, these can be made vegan by omitting the meat and omitting the egg, but they may end up drier.

I’m using russet potatoes to make perkedel ketang. Traditionally, you want to use starchy potatoes to achieve the perfect crispy texture. With that being said, avoid waxy potatoes such as Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes.

I’m using a combination of beef and pork. If your grocery store has it, you can buy a blend of pork and beef, which can save you some money! I’ve never actually seen that before, so I jumped on the chance to get it! However, if you don’t have a pork and beef blend available to you (or better yet, you’ve already got both beef and pork on hand!), then just don’t worry about it! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, using what you already have on hand can work perfectly fine in some cases! If you’re using the pork and beef separately, then use a one to one ratio of beef and pork. Alternatively, you could use just beef or just pork if you have a preference or only eat one of those types of protein.

Despite referring to plenty of other recipes where the authentic method is to pan-fry the potatoes before cooking, I was considering boiling or steaming the potatoes before mashing instead. I thought that this would save some time as you could prep the other ingredients while the potatoes are boiling or steaming. However, I went ahead and did fry the potatoes as you should, and let me tell you why! Frying the potatoes definitely gives them plenty of flavour, so you don’t want to skip this step - it’s really well worth it!

However, if you do want to steam the potatoes to save on some calories and time, then I would recommend steaming the potatoes, but I would avoid boiling them. If you steam the potatoes, you’ll ensure that there is a lot less moisture compared to boiling the potatoes. I would recommend you check out my Guide to Perfectly Steamed Potatoes in the Instant Pot for the best results!

I tried air frying these, and I can confidently say that you definitely can! All you need to do is preheat your air fryer, then select the “Air Fry” setting on your air fryer at 425 F. Air fry for 10-12 minutes, flipping them once halfway through the cooking time.

While these would be served best fresh, of course you can keep any extras in an airtight container in the fridge. If you do want to eat them fresh, what you can do in terms of prep is keep the meat and potato mixture in the fridge and then form the patties and fry when ready to eat. In fact, you could even form the patties and just coat them in the tapioca starch and egg when you’re ready to fry! Whether you’re storing them cooked or just the mixture, these will stay good in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, depending on the freshness of your meat.

I have not done this but I believe that it may be possible. For the best results, I would recommend you freeze them once the patties have been fried. Otherwise, freezing the raw potato and meat mixture will make them likely to break apart. Once you’ve fried the potato and meat croquettes, allow them to completely cool down, then place them on a baking sheet in a single layer to flash freeze them to ensure that the patties do not stick together. Afterward, transfer them to a large freezer bag or an airtight container. To prevent freezer burn, you can keep them in the freezer for no longer than 2 months. When you’re ready to eat them again, there’s no need to thaw them - simply re-fry directly from frozen. The cook time will be a bit longer, but this is the best way to reheat them to prevent them from getting soggy.

Keep in mind that freezing potatoes usually change their texture, so this may not be as enjoyable once defrosted compared to enjoying them fresh.

My favourite method to reheat these Indonesian croquettes are in the air fryer. I set the air fryer to 385 F on the “reheat” setting for about 8 minutes, until completely warmed through. If you really wanted to, you could deep fry your perkedel kentang again, but keep in mind that would be triple frying the potatoes!