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Tsukune meatballs

Prep Time:

15 Minutes

Cook Time:

5 Minutes

Serves:

2 Servings

Level:

Intermediate

About the Recipe

"Tsukune" in Japanese means a chicken meatball. These are a big favourite in Japanese yakitori bars all over the country but they are also very easy to make at home. You can either use prepared chicken mince or buy some chicken and mince it yourself - I use thigh in this recipe as I find it makes for the tastiest, softest meatballs. I honestly don't think there's a better way to eat a chicken meatball. But I'll let you be the judge of that!

Ingredients

30g / 1 oz carrot

1 spring onion

250g / 9 oz boneless chicken thigh or minced chicken

1/8 tsp ginger paste

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp mayonnaise

a little salt & pepper

some vegetable or sunflower oil


4 - 5 short skewers


for the sauce:


2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp soy sauce

Preparation

peel and chop the carrot and spring onion roughly


put them in your blender and blend just a little


if you're using chicken thighs, now is the time to chop them and then blend to a smooth mince


(if you’re using ready made minced chicken, you can skip this stage)


put the blended chicken and vegetables in a bowl. add the ginger paste, plain flour, mayonnaise, salt & pepper. mix everything together well


moisten your hands with a little oil. take a heaped teaspoon of the chicken mixture in your hand and roll it into a ball shape


repeat to make 12-15 chicken balls


bring a saucepan of water to the boil. add the chicken balls and simmer for 2 minutes


heat 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil in a frying pan. transfer the meatballs to the frying pan and fry for 2 minutes


add the sugar, mirin, & soy sauce to the frying pan. stir carefully, coating each meatball until the sauce thickens


now remove your meatballs from the pan and push them carefully onto the skewers


garnish with a little chopped spring onion and serve

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