{"id":16759,"date":"2014-09-06T18:29:57","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T16:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=16759"},"modified":"2014-09-06T18:39:35","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T16:39:35","slug":"tsukune-%e3%81%a4%e3%81%8f%e3%81%ad-grilled-chicken-meatballs-with-lemon-zest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=16759","title":{"rendered":"Tsukune \u3064\u304f\u306d (Grilled Chicken Meatballs) with Lemon Zest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tsukunecitronp\"Tsukune, in appearance a humble meat patty, is the first thing I order in a yakitori-serving\u00a0restaurant\u00a0in Japan\u00a0because its\u00a0taste and texture reflect\u00a0the cook’s skills and\/or imagination. My favourite tsukune in Tokyo contained\u00a0aromatic yuzu (Japanese citrus) zest. Trying to copy them with locally available fruits\u00a0I have added lemon zest and, even though they couldn’t hold a candle to the yuzu version,\u00a0my tsukune turned out delicious\u00a0and\u00a0original.<\/p>\n

The name “tsukune (\u634f\u306d or \u3064\u304f\u306d)<\/span>” apparently comes from the verb “tsukuneru” (to knead) and refers to the fact that the patties shaping process involves more or less kneading. Even though they are usually made with chicken, other meats can also be used or a mixture of meats. The shape also varies:\u00a0while most yakitori-serving restaurants give them an oval shape and grill\u00a0them on skewers, tsukune can also be round and pan-fried or simmered in soups. The grilled skewered version is the only one I tasted\u00a0during my two trips to Tokyo, so I tried to copy this one for now.<\/p>\n

This simple recipe comes from the fascinating\u00a0Izakaya: the Japanese Pub Cookbook<\/a>\u00a0by Mark Robinson where\u00a0I discovered not only interesting dishes and snacks, but, most of all, fantastic\u00a0Tokyo izakayas, one of which\u00a0serves\u00a0the above-mentioned yuzu\u00a0tsukune I will never forget.\u00a0Since Mark Robinson was given tsukune instructions\u00a0from my beloved izakaya,\u00a0I couldn’t imagine\u00a0a better recipe source.\u00a0I found it surprisingly\u00a0effortless and simple:\u00a0no binders (such as egg), no fillers, but simply good juicy meat, onion and yuzu\u00a0zest. The author says that the main secrets are\u00a0the use of various\u00a0chicken parts (such as skin, offal or cartilage) and long meat kneading, but I decided to use simply\u00a0skinned leg meat, which is relatively easy to mince at home and didn’t knead it really. My tsukune were not perfectly shaped and couldn’t even compare to the ones from the Tokyo izakaya, but they turned out\u00a0juicy, aromatic and extremely flavoursome.<\/p>\n

If you don’t like the lemon zest idea or are simply looking for other options and inspiration, you should check Nami’s gorgeous\u00a0tsukune with shiso\/perilla leaves (on Just One Cookbook blog)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TIPS : For optimal results do not use ground chicken breast here, unless they are the minority of the ground meat. The second time I prepared these tsukune with a mixture of\u00a0chicken breast and legs (1:1): they were slightly dry and not even half as good as those made with leg meat only.<\/p>\n

If you cannot find ground chicken legs, you can easily mix them in a food processor (this is what I did; I also debone chicken legs because it’s cheaper and really quick). After grinding, remove any long stringy white bits you see\u00a0(unless you have a real meat grinder; then the result should be perfect). You can grind the meat\u00a0almost to a pulp, if you wish, but personally I liked the slightly chunky texture too.<\/p>\n

I prefer my teriyaki glaze\u00a0less sweet than the one usually served in Japanese restaurants, but feel free to add more mirin or sugar.<\/p>\n

Special equipment: skewers (I have used\u00a08) and a brush<\/em><\/p>\n

Preparation:<\/em><\/p>\n

Ingredients (serves two as a snack):<\/em><\/p>\n

ground meat from 2 medium\u00a0chicken legs (about 250 –\u00a0300 g\/9 – 10 oz)<\/em><\/p>\n

1 small onion (I have used a shallot)<\/em><\/p>\n

grated zest from one big lemon (preferably organic)<\/em><\/p>\n

salt, pepper<\/em><\/p>\n

oil<\/em><\/p>\n

Teriyaki glaze:<\/em><\/p>\n

3 tablespoons soy sauce<\/em><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon sake<\/em><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake)<\/em><\/p>\n

Chop the onion and combine with the zest, the salt and the pepper.<\/p>\n

Refrigerate for one hour (you can skip this step if you are in a hurry, but it lets the flavours mix better together).<\/p>\n

15 minutes before grilling or pan-frying, soak the skewers (if you use wooden ones) in water.<\/p>\n

Form equal balls in your palms, slightly kneading the meat.<\/p>\n

Give the balls an oval shape and “stick” them\u00a0around the skewers, pressing with your palm, making sure they don’t fall off the skewer (I was worried they would fall, but mine never did).<\/p>\n

Heat the glaze\u00a0ingredients in a pan until it thickens.<\/p>\n

Put aside.<\/p>\n

Grill the skewers on a grill or on a pan, turning them\u00a0regularly.<\/p>\n

If you grill them on a pan, I advise keeping the pan covered, so that you don’t end up with raw meat inside and burnt outside. I turned them four times (as if they had four sides), each time after about a minute.<\/p>\n

Just before serving, warm the teriyaki glaze a bit and brush the skewers with it. I have also sprinkled them with ground black pepper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tsukune, in appearance a humble meat patty, is the first thing I order in a yakitori-serving\u00a0restaurant\u00a0in Japan\u00a0because its\u00a0taste and texture reflect\u00a0the cook’s skills and\/or imagination.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[185,82,85],"tags":[45,136],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16759"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16775,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16759\/revisions\/16775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}