Japanese BBQ Meatballs (Tsukune)
Tsukune, or grilled chicken meatballs, are a popular snack found in pubs, casual dining rooms, and at street stalls throughout Japan. They’re coated in a sweet and salty glaze thanks to being liberally brushed with tare, a standard Japanese sauce made from sake, soy sauce, and plenty of sugar. You may find yourself falling in love with tare sauce, which is a more complex way to accent your food than standard soy sauce, and will last for at least a month in your fridge.
Choose chicken that’s got a little bit of fat in it for the best texture and flavor; we got chicken that was 92% lean and added some olive oil to the chicken during seasoning, for a little bit more fat in the mix. You can also get chicken thighs ground to order, grind some chicken skin or fat into your blend, or choose a fattier ground turkey. We don’t have binder in this chicken so you need to turn them carefully on the grill until they set on the skewers. And make the meatballs small, about an inch or so across, since you need them to cook thoroughly on the grill.
For the chicken:
1 pound minimum 92% lean ground chicken
1 shallot or small onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Japanese BBQ Seasoning
Zest from one lemon
1 teaspoon olive oil, plus oil for the grill
10 bamboo or metal skewers
For the tare:
1 cup sake
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
1/2 cup Demerara Sugar
1. If using bamboo skewers, put skewers in water and allow them to soak for at least one hour.
2. Make the tare. Combine all tare ingredients in a saucepan or small pot, over medium-high heat. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat immediately—this can boil over easily—and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until tare is thick, sticky, and reduced by about a quarter. Set aside.
3. Make meatballs. Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix until fully combined. Roll chicken into small meatballs, roughly an inch or so wide. You’re aiming for at least 30 meatballs, or three meatballs per skewer.
4. Carefully thread meatballs onto skewers. Once all skewers are threaded, but the meatballs in the refrigerator and allow them to set up for about half an hour.
5. Heat your grill to medium-high heat and coat grates with oil. Pour some tare into a cup you can use for basting your meatballs. Reserve the remainder of the tare sauce on the side for later use. Coat all meatballs with a layer of tare and place on the grill.
6. Flip meatballs every 2-3 minutes, basting with tare again at every flip.
7. Cook meatballs for 8-10 minutes, until cooked through. The tare glaze should be rich and brown. Check with a meat thermometer to ensure doneness; they should have an internal temperature of 165°F.
8. Remove meatballs from heat. Serve with sticky rice, roasted vegetables, and an additional side of tare from the reserved sauce.
