These Tsukune (Japanese chicken meatballs) are basted in a sweet yakitori sauce with juicy meatballs and full of flavor. Grill or pan-fry instructions included!
In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients from chicken to egg yolk.
Grate the ginger and squeeze it into juice. You should have about 1 tbsp of ginger juice. Grate the shallot and add both the ginger juice and grated shallot into the meat mixture.
Stir the meat mixture (I use a pair of chopsticks) in one direction until it becomes very sticky, soft, and smooth, about 2 minutes. If you have a stand mixer, use it to help you bind the meat together.
Line a large sheet pan with parchment. Utilize a cookie scoop to weight the meatballs, allocating approximately 3 tablespoons of mixture for each meatball. This process should yield a total of 13 meatballs.
Grease your hands with some olive oil. This will prevent the meat from sticking to your hands. Shape the meatballs into a smooth surface.
Before cooking, you can fry up a small piece to see if you need to adjust the seasonings.
If pan-fry (easiest way):
Flatten the meatballs into small patties (about ½-inch thick). Pan fry them with avocado oil over medium heat about 2.5 minutes on the first side. Flip the patties and brush with teriyaki sauce. Fry the second side for about 1.5 minutes. Flip the patties again, brush with more sauce, and fry 1.5 minutes more.
Flatten the meatballs into small patties (about ½-inch thick) and thread them onto the skewers. Brush the grill tray with avocado oil. Cradle the entire skewer in your hand to keep the meat on the stick and place it on the grill grid.
Grill the first side about 3-4 minutes, rotate to grill the second side about 2-3 minutes, and rotate again to grill for 15-30 seconds longer. Brush with the teriyaki sauce as you rotate the skewers.
To serve:
Brush with a thin layer of teriyaki sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve over butter lettuce. Enjoy it while they are sizzling hot!
Video
Notes
Knead the chicken mixture until it becomes very smooth and sticky so the meatballs are less likely to fall apart.
The meatballs can be made up to 24 hours ahead in the fridge.
Grate the ginger and squeeze the ginger juice into the meat mixture.
Use some muscle to grate the shallot. The meatballs will be extra flavorful and juicy.
When grilling, use narrow flat skewers and a perforated grilling tray to support the skewers from falling apart.
You can also not skewer the meatballs, just grill them directly on a perforated grill tray on top of the grill.
Baste the chicken meatballs as you flip and cook each time so they are very well seasoned on all sides.
If on Whole30, try my Whole30 Teriyaki sauce. The sauce will taste less sweet than the keto version.