Japanese Chicken Meatballs
Japanese Chicken Meatballs
Chicken meatballs, or tsukune, are often found in Japanese
restaurants. They are usually found on traditional, round bamboo
skewers, but you can also use flat-skewers to help prevent the
meatballs from slipping off of their skewers when cooking them.
Serve these meatballs with a side of rice.
Ingrediënten
- 2 medium shiitake mushrooms dried
- 1 ½ pound of ground chicken or ground turkey
- ½ cup dry whole-wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped scallion white
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons of ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of ground pepper
- ¼ cup of mirin or cream sherry
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
- Metal skewers
- 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil optional
- 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds optional
Instructies
- Place mushrooms in a small bowl.
- Cover them with boiling water and let soak for 45 minutes.
- Drain the mushrooms and remove and discard stems.
- Finely chop the caps.
- Combine mushroom caps, ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg whites, scallion whites, cornstarch, 2 teaspoons of ginger, garlic, honey, salt, and pepper in a large mixing
- Mix until evenly combined.
- Shape the mixture into about 24 meatballs, with about 2 tablespoons of meat in each.
- Place the meatballs on a plate, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- You can refrigerate these for up to one day.
- Combine mirin (or sherry), soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ginger in a small saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat.
- Stir in the cornstarch mixture, and reduce heat to mediumlow.
- Cook until thickened, which is usually within 2 to 5 minutes.
- Prepare half of the grill to medium-high heat and oil the grill rack.
- Use either charcoal or gas.
- Thread four meatballs on each metal skewer.
- Grill the meatballs over direct heat until marked, turn once.
- This usually takes 5 to 6 minutes per side.
- If you try to turn them too early, then the meat will stick to the grill.
- Move the grilled meatballs to the unlit/unused side of the grill.
- Brush the tops with the glaze and grill for 2 minutes.
- Repeat the process on the other side.
- Move the meatballs to a serving platter.
- Drizzle any remaining glaze and sesame oil over the top of the meatballs.
- Sprinkle the meatballs with sesame seeds, if desired, and serve.
