Tsukune are Japanese-style meatballs which are tender and juicy and basted in a salty, slightly sweet sticky sauce. We've made ours using organic chicken mince but they're also great with pork, flavoured with spring onion, ginger and sesame oil. They'll be a winner with the entire fam and are perfect for eating when you're after something tasty but light.
Ingredients:
Meatballs
-
500g chicken mince or pork mince
- 2 spring onions, sliced thinly
- 1cm ginger, minced with microplane
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red miso paste
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 egg
- Neutral oil for frying
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or sake
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 3 tbsp water
- Toasted sesame seeds to serve
- Baby cos to serve
-
White rice to serve
Method:
- Combine chicken mince, spring onions, ginger, garlic, white pepper, sesame oil, salt, miso paste, corn flour and egg in a bowl and mix well.
- Wet hands and shape into golf sized balls.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, Chinese cooking wine, cornflour and water together.
- Heat neutral flavoured oil in a fry pan on medium heat. Pour it until it reaches about 1cm up the side of the pan.
- Once hot, add in the meatballs and fry until golden on all sides, around 5 minutes. Do this in batches, so you don't overcrowd the pan.
- Drain them on a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Wipe the pan clean and add in the sauce, cooking until slightly thickened.
- Add the meatballs back into the pan to coat.
- To serve, place a heaped spoon of rice into a cup of lettuce, top with meatballs, spring onion and toasted sesame seeds.
