Tsukune (つくね): an izakaya favourite

Whenever Phil and I went to Daikichi's in his town Tokishi, there were a few standard dishes that we often ordered. And, because it was an izakaya (Japanese pub), it meant that there was lots of delicious food on sticks.

I really, really miss Daikichi's. In fact, about a year ago (almost to the day!), I said about the same thing.

It was a hole in the wall, the guys who ran the place smoked over the food as they grilled it, its tiny booths and stools were often packed with drunk salarymen and attractive young women (who were probably not their wives) and we enjoyed copious amounts of sake, beer and meat on sticks.

We occasionally got eggplant and onion too... but mostly we ordered meat on sticks.

Until recently, I haven't tried to recreate Daikichi's. Anything I do won't live up to the memory in my mind.

Anyway, we always got the chicken-cheese (grilled chicken thighs with a cheese slice on top and special mildly spicy sauce) and the aspara-bacon (grilled bacon wrapped asparagus), and usually got another dish, tsukune.

I attempted those this week, and they're about as authentic as they're going to get given that:

a) I'm not chain smoking over the skewers and
b) I don't have a grill

Tsukune (つくね) are essentially very smooth chicken meatballs seasoned with ginger, sesame and green onion, dipped repeatedly in tare (垂れ) and grilled until dry in between dips. Tare is basically the awesome older brother of the insipid teriyaki sauce we have here.

When I moved to Japan and asked about buying teriyaki sauce in the grocery store, I was met by a round of blank stares. Ask for tare.

Better yet, don't buy it from the grocery store. It's dead easy to make.

Now, I like my tsukune well browned with the tare. Those found at Daikichi's tend to be less assertive. Also, I have yet to perfect the art of perfectly spherical meatballs.

Daikichi's tsukune

Anyway, you can see where the inspiration was and where I ended up, and frankly, I'm really happy with this recipe!

Here are a few pictures of our favourite joint:

A friend outside Daikichi

Inside our Daikichi's

My very young, red faced, and hairier husband fans the grilled goods.

I heard that, after we left Japan, the Daikichi's in Phil's neighbourhood closed down. Clearly our consumption of sake and food on sticks kept the place afloat!

Tsukune: Grilled Chicken Meatballs

(from Hiroko Shimbo's Japanese Kitchen)

Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken or turkey
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp finely ground black pepper
2 green onions, both green and white parts, minced
1½ tsp freshly grated ginger
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp canola oil
sansho pepper (optional)
tare sauce (recipe below)

Directions

1. Begin by soaking 8 bamboo skewers in water for 15 minutes. Set aside.

2. Using a food processor, pulse ground chicken until it forms a coarse paste. Add in salt and black pepper, and pulse again. Alternatively, you can use your hands to squeeze the mixture over and over again (we're talking a good 5 minutes or so) and it'll achieve similar results. Remove mixture from food processor, stir in ginger and green onions. Once they are evenly distributed, mix in the egg white and sesame oil. Divide the mixture into 16 evenly sized balls.

3. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. Working in batches, cook tsukune for 1 minute or so on each side or just until they're white and firm. You don't actually want to finish cooking them at this stage; you'll finish them off either on the grill or beneath the broiler.

4. Heat the grill on medium high heat or turn on your oven's broiler, making sure the rack is placed about 3-4" below the element. While you're waiting for it to heat up, remove bamboo skewers from water, and thread 2 tsukune onto each. Once your cooking medium is hot, grill or broil the tsukune, for 1 minute. Flip over and repeat on the other side.

5. Once tsukune have been cooked on each side, flip again, and brush with tare. Place back on grill or under broiler and cook until dry, about 1 minute. Remove, flip and brush again with tare. Repeat this procedure once more on each side of the tsukune, ensuring the balls are dry before applying the next coating of tare.

Serve piping hot with a sprinkle of sansho pepper.

Tare: Basting sauce for Yaki-tori

Ingredients

¼ cup sake
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp soy sauce

optional: add in one dried shiitake mushroom

Directions

1. In a small pot, bring sake and mirin to a boil. Add in the sugar. Cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the soy sauce (and the mushroom if using) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Sauce will be thick and glossy. Remove mushroom (feel free to eat it, it's super tasty) and use right away or keep in the fridge for up to a month.

Teriyaki Pork Burgers

Exciting news #1: The Zojirushi plays MUSIC whenever I turn it on (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) and when it finishes cooking (a good 30 seconds of music that I'm not familiar with) another one. LOVE it. The sheer ridiculousness of it makes me so happy.
Exciting news #2: Teriyaki pork burgers are the awesome sauce. No. Seriously. Super awesome sauce.

This isn't exciting to anyone but me, is it?

Covered with glazed goodness.

Soy-Glazed Pork Burgers

(adapted from Elizabeth Andoh's Washoku)

Ingredients

1 small onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons saké, divided
1 lb lean ground pork (I used heritage pork from HOPE eco-farms)
½ cup panko
1 egg
1 tbsp miso

2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp hot water
3 tbsp soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-low heat. Add onions and sauté for about 2 minutes, or until tender, but not browned (but if they do brown, it's not the end of the world). Add 1 tbsp sake to the pan and deglaze the whole thing, scraping up all of those delicious brown bits. Remove onions from pan with any leftover sake bits and let cool in a bowl.

2. In a large bowl, combine pork, panko, egg, miso and cooled onions. I get in there and use my hands to thoroughly mix it all together.

3. Divide the mixture into however many patties you desire (somewhere between 4 and 10 [I made 10 minis].

4. Return the same skillet you used for the onions to the heat, and cover again with cooking spray. Add patties and sear on the first side until browned, about 1 minute. [If you've done several patties, you may need to do the browning and steaming in two batches.]

Flip, and sear the patties on the second side. If the surface cracks a bit, don't freak out. It'll all work out in the long run. Add the remaining sake, 1 tbsp, to the pan, cover quickly with a lid and let cook for 5 or so minutes (for minis - 8-10 minutes for larger ones). If you're doing two batches, use ½ tbsp sake for each batch.

5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sugar with the hot water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the soy sauce. Return the skillet to med-high heat and pour the soy sauce over the burgers into it. Shake the skillet to coat the beef patties and flip them after a minute to make sure they're evenly glazed.

If you're like me, you'll probably spend 4-5 minutes with the flippy and glazing. I love me a thick sauce.

See? That's some mighty fine thick sauce. I had a hard time not licking the plate!

Serve over rice, with a side of sugar-free carrot kinpira.