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.
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
