Simmered Chicken Tsukune (Japanese Meatballs)
鶏ひき肉のつくね煮 · Tori Hikiniku no Tsukune-ni
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Tsukune are Japanese chicken meatballs, best known grilled on skewers at yakitori shops, but in preschool kitchens we simmer them in dashi instead so they come out soft and juicy enough for even the youngest children to manage. Finely minced carrot and onion are kneaded right into the ground chicken, so kids who push vegetables to the side of the plate eat them without a second thought. The egg and panko keep the meatballs tender, and the lightly sweetened soy and dashi broth is the kind of gentle flavor children take to right away.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 12 gcarrot
- 24 gonion
- 67.5 gground chicken
Seasonings
- 0.6 gginger paste (tube)Grated ginger sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh ginger for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated ginger in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 0.1 gsalt
- to tastepepper
- 12 gegg
- 6 gpanko
- 3.8 gpotato starch (katakuriko)Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness.
- 90 mldashi stockJapanese soup stock, usually made from kombu (dried kelp) and/or bonito flakes; the base of most Japanese soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a mild unsalted chicken or vegetable stock.
- 2.4 gsugar
- 3 gsoy sauce
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- ginger paste (tube) (しょうがチューブ)
- Grated ginger sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh ginger for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated ginger in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- potato starch (katakuriko) (かたくり粉)
- Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness. Read the guide: Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch) and What to Use Instead → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/katakuriko-potato-starch/
- dashi stock (だし汁)
- Japanese soup stock, usually made from kombu (dried kelp) and/or bonito flakes; the base of most Japanese soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a mild unsalted chicken or vegetable stock.
Directions
- 1
Finely mince the carrot and onion.
- 2
Add the minced vegetables from step 1, the ginger paste, salt and pepper, beaten egg, panko, and potato starch to the ground chicken and knead well until the mixture becomes sticky.
- 3
Add the sugar and soy sauce to the dashi stock and bring to a boil, then shape the mixture from step 2 into balls with a spoon, dropping them into the broth as you go, and simmer well until cooked through. (For an efficient way to shape them, squeeze the mixture out between your thumb and index finger into balls about 3 cm across, then scoop each one off with a spoon held in your other hand.)
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 190.5 kcal | 381 kcal | 190.5 kcal |
| Protein | 15.3 g | 30.6 g | 15.3 g |
| Fat | 9.6 g | 19.2 g | 9.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 13.1 g | 26.1 g | 13.1 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | 2.1 g | 1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.9 g | 1.8 g | 0.9 g |
| Calcium | 25.5 mg | 51 mg | 25.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.8 mg | 1.5 mg | 0.8 mg |
| Potassium | 337.5 mg | 675 mg | 337.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 190.5 kcal | 15.3 g | 9.6 g | 13.1 g | 1 g | 0.9 g | 25.5 mg | 0.8 mg | 337.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 381 kcal | 30.6 g | 19.2 g | 26.1 g | 2.1 g | 1.8 g | 51 mg | 1.5 mg | 675 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
Ingredients in this recipe
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