Croquetas de Jamón
Spanish ham croquetas are made from a thick bechamel enriched with finely diced jamón serrano, chilled until it can be shaped, then breaded and deep-fried. Unlike the French croquette, which is built on potato, the Spanish version has no starch filler at all: the interior is meant to be liquid at eating temperature and held together only by the crust. The dish came out of home kitchens as a way to use the last shreds of ham from the bone, and it survives in almost every bar in Spain as the standard measure of a kitchen. The two things that decide the result are the flour-to-milk ratio and how long the flour is cooked before the milk goes in. Active work is about an hour, but the dough must chill for several hours before shaping.
Ingredients
- 200 gjamón serrano
- 100 gunsalted butter
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 1 piecesmall onion
- 120 gplain flour
- 800 mlwhole milk
- 0.25 tspgrated nutmeg
- 2 pieceseggs
- 150 gbreadcrumbs
- 60 gplain flour for coating
- 1 lsunflower oil for frying
- 1 tspfine sea salt
Method
- Dice the jamón into 3 to 4 mm pieces. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a wide heavy pan over medium heat, add the ham and fry it for 2 minutes, until the fat renders and the pan smells toasted rather than raw.
- Add the finely chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook 8 to 10 minutes over low heat until it is soft and translucent without taking any colour. Browned onion shows up later as dark specks and a caramel note that does not belong here.
- Add the 120 g of flour all at once and cook it 5 to 7 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns the colour of pale sand and no longer smells of raw flour. This step is the single biggest cause of pasty croquetas when it is cut short.
- Heat the milk until it is steaming but not boiling, then add it in five additions, whisking each one in completely before the next so no lumps form. Season with the nutmeg and the salt.
- Switch to a wooden spoon and cook 25 to 30 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the base, until the mass comes away from the pan in one piece and a line drawn with the spoon holds for about 2 seconds before closing.
- Spread the dough about 2 cm thick in a tray, press cling film directly onto the surface so no skin forms, cool to room temperature and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Warm dough cannot be shaped and will split in the fryer.
- Shape about 20 pieces of roughly 35 g, roll each in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing firmly so the coating has no gaps. Fry at 175 °C in batches of five or six for 2 to 3 minutes, until deep gold, drain on a rack and wait 2 minutes before eating, because the inside comes out molten.
FAQ
Either the coating had a gap, the dough was still warm when shaped, or the oil was above 190 °C, which sets the crust before the inside has warmed and builds up steam pressure. Chill the shaped pieces for 30 minutes before frying and keep the oil at 175 °C, adding only five or six at a time so the temperature does not crash.
Prosciutto crudo is the closest match, and a mix of good cooked ham with a piece of ham bone simmered in the milk gives comparable depth if cured ham is out of reach. You can also replace 200 ml of the milk with chicken or ham stock, which adds savour without changing the texture.
The uncooked dough keeps two days covered in the fridge and the breaded pieces freeze for three months. Fried croquetas lose their contrast quickly, but if you have leftovers, reheat them in a 200 °C oven for 8 minutes rather than a microwave, which turns the crust soft.
The French version is built on mashed potato and holds its shape when cut, while the Spanish one is pure bechamel and should flow. Within Spain the same base takes shredded chicken, salt cod, boiled beef from cocido, or wild mushrooms, with the cooking time of the bechamel staying the same.
Hot, on their own as a tapa or a ración, usually four to six per person, without sauce so nothing masks the ham. Vermouth, dry cider or a cold caña are the standard accompaniments.
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