tsukune japanese chicken meatballs

Prawn

Tsukune Japanese Chicken Meatballs

Tsukune (Japanese chicken meatballs) are a popular Japanese food with many variations. They are served primarily on a stick, but you can also get them in soups, bentos, as a main dish, etc. Tsukune became a family favorite almost instantly (it needed some tweaks at first). I'm sharing my dinner recipe here, which I usually serve on a bed of Japanese rice with a side salad or sautéed enoki mushrooms.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
¼ cup tamari
¼ cup cooking sake
¼ cup mirin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
10 ½ ounces ground chicken
3 green onions, chopped
½ carrot, grated
¼ cup panko bread crumbs, or to taste
1 large egg
2 tablespoons red miso paste, or more to taste
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 tablespoon crumbled seaweed
1 tablespoon tamari, or more to taste
1 tablespoon cooking sake, or more to taste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar, or more to taste
1 teaspoon paprika, or more to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a small pot over low heat. Add 1 teaspoon ginger and garlic; cook and stir until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup tamari, 1/4 cup sake, mirin, brown sugar, and sesame seeds; simmer until glaze is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Combine ground chicken, green onions, carrot, bread crumbs, egg, miso paste, 2 tablespoons ginger, potato starch, seaweed, 1 tablespoon tamari, 1 tablespoon sake, soy sauce, white sugar, and paprika in a large bowl; mix until becomes a thick paste, about 5 minutes. Roll ground chicken mixture into balls the size of your palm; flatten slightly into patties.
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
Cook on the preheated grill until well-browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip; continue cooking until browned on other side, 2 to 3 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into centers should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Brush glaze over meatballs before serving.