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Japanese Tsukune

SpiceBreeze

Japanese tsukune are meatballs coated with a salty-sweet sauce. It's one of the common grilled items served at Japanese yakitori restaurants. This dish is perfect for your next barbecue cook-out or dinner. The meatballs are soft, bouncy, and smooth in texture. Create your minced meat with your desired protein. Optionally, stuff it with vegetables. Finish with a Japanese staple, the shichimi togarashi spice blend.

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Hands-on time 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Servings

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat chicken, turkey, pork, veal, beef, or mixed
1 egg
4 green onions finely sliced
1 tbsp corn starch or tapioca flour
4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
3 tbsp cooking wine, dry sherry, or mirin
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 inch ginger grated
oil sesame or vegetable

Tsukune Culinary Spice Kit

[shichimi togarashi] Toasted sesame seeds, black & white, hemp seeds, seaweed, orange peel, tangerine peel, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn

Suggested Sides

Cooked or steamed rice
Cooked or steamed bok choy, green asparagus, zucchini, spinach, or broccoli
Fresh salad from cucumber and mung bean sprouts

Instructions

Prepare Sauce

In a CUP, mix 3 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp cooking wine, and 1 tbsp sugar. Set aside for later.

Prepare Meatballs: Add the Panade to the Meat

In a large BOWL, add meat.
Add onions and ginger. Knead until well combined.
Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 egg, and 1 tbsp starch. Knead until well combined.

Form Meatballs

Form balls of about 2 inches in diameter or flat patties.
Alternative: Form stuffed sausages [1].

Fry Meatballs

In a PAN, fry meatballs over medium heat until they turn brown on all sides.
Cover. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Cook meatballs until they are cooked thoroughly.

Coat Meatballs with Sauce

Remove lid.
Discard any oil or cooking liquid.
Push meatballs to the sides.
Add sauce in the center.
Cook the sauce over low heat until some of the liquid evaporated and the sauce starts to thicken.
Slowly, push meatballs back into the center and turn them in the sauce until all are evenly coated with a shiny glaze.

Serve

Serve the meatballs with your preferred sides.
Sprinkle with Tsukune spices.
Enjoy!

Video

Notes

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Grill: Form balls or small sausages of about 1 inch in diameter and thread them onto skewers. Baste them with the sauce and grill them on both sides.

Noodles: Triple the sauce and add cooked wide noodles in the last step to the PAN.

[1] Stuffed: Add cooked green beans and carrot sticks and form meat sausages around them.