Chicken meatball (“tsukune”) covered in sweet soy sauce is a favorite among young and old. But it can turn hard and dry when it cools.
Here, Yoko Munakata of the Better Home Association introduces tsukune that will stay moist and soft. The key is the ingredient to hold the mixture together–in this case grated potato–and the way you knead the mixture.
“The salt will make the meat stickier,” Munakata says.
First mix as if grabbing with your fingers, then mix about 20 times in a quick circular motion. Serves four.
INGREDIENTS
300 grams ground chicken leg
1 bag (100 grams) enokidake mushroom
Piece of ginger (half the size of thumb)
1 medium-sized (100 gram) potato
Seasoning A (1/3 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sake)
Seasoning B (1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce, sake and sweet mirin sake)
METHOD
Cut off root part of enokidake, then cut into length of 1 cm. Grate ginger without peeling. (Scrape off dirt with spoon if necessary.) Peel potato and grate with same grater so remaining ginger fiber can be used in full.
Mix meat and Seasoning A in bowl. Add ginger and potato with their juice. Knead until sticky and a mass is formed. Add enokidake.
Divide in 12 equal parts and form ovals that are 4-5 cm in diameter. Mixture is easier to handle with wet hands. Make dent in center to prevent tsukune from puffing up while cooking. Mix Seasoning B.
Heat 1 tsp cooking oil in frying pan, place six tsukune and cook for two minutes over medium heat until brown. Turn sides, put a lid on and cook for two-three more minutes and remove. They are done if clear juice flows out when poked with skewer. Add 1 tsp oil and cook remaining six.
Wipe oil in pan with paper towel. Return all tsukune, add Seasoning B. Cook for about two minutes over medium heat so sauce thickens and coats tsukune to give them a glaze.
***
From the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's Kashikoi Okazu column
- « Prev
- 1
- Next »
