Tag: appetizer
Tsukune
Tsukune
Tsukune are little chicken meatballs sautéed then finished in a sweet and savory sauce. These are sometimes grilled on skewers and served as an appetizer like yakitori. These are really easy to make and require very little prep and cooking time. If you can’t find potato starch, breadcrumbs are an acceptable substitute.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken thigh
- 1/4 cup sautéed onion cooked to golden brown
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp potato starch
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp rice cooking wine
- 3 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp potato starch
Garnish
- green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, onion, ginger, salt, and potato starch.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Using a cookie dropper, drop scoops of the meatball mix into the oil. Make sure to not overcrowd. You might have to cook these in 2 batches. I yielded 20 meatballs out of this recipe.
- Cook the meatballs for 4-5 minutes a side. Take out of the pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together all of the sauce ingredients.
- In the same sauté pan, add the sauce over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute. Add in the meatballs.
- Cook for no more than 2 minutes, tossing the meatballs, making sure that they are evenly coated in the sauce.
- Serve over steamed rice. Garnish with green onions.
Korean style Pork Meatballs
Korean style Pork Meatballs
Korean meatballs are typically pan fried instead of being baked. Since these meatballs are rolled in cornstarch, they develop a nice crust that also helps thicken the glaze that they are finished off in. I chose to make all pork meatballs. You can use half beef, or all beef if you’d like. Either are delicious.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 6 shittake mushroom caps finely chopped
- 2 green onion finely chopped
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup corn starch for dredging
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Meatball Glaze
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp cooking wine
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 3 slices of ginger
Garnish
- 2 tbsp ground peanuts
- 1 tsp gochugaru pepper flakes
Instructions
- Mix all meatballs ingredients together except the cornstarch and cooking oil.
- Make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Dredge the meatballs in corn starch.
- Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the meatballs.
- Sauté the meatballs for 7-8 minutes, making sure that all sides are browned. They do not have to be cooked all of the way through yet, as they will finish off in the glaze.
- In a mortar and pestle, crush the peanuts and gochugaru together. Set aside.
- In the same pan, add all of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the meatballs back into the glaze.
- Cook for another 5-6 minutes until the glaze has thickened. Garnish with the peanut/gochgaru mix.
Jamaican Jerk Skewers
Jamaican Jerk Skewers
Want a quick and easy appetizer? Well this is it. Here is a good example of the versatility of the Jamaican Jerk marinade. I made 3 different skeweres in this recipe: pork, chicken, and shrimp.For the chicken, I used boneless skinless thighs. You can definitely use chicken breast if you want. Just my personal preferance. For the pork, I used pork sirloin. Pork loin or tenderloin are also suitable substitutes to use. For the shrimp, I used 21-25 count. For maximum flavor, the pork and chicken should marinate overnight. Shrimp doesn't need to marinate for more than 15 minutes.If you would prefer to grill these, please do. They will take about the same time on a hot charcoal grill.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken thighs
- pork sirloin
- shrimp peeled and deveined
- Jamaican jerk marinade
Instructions
- Slice the pork sirloin into 1/4" thick slices.
- Marinate the pork sirloin slices overnight.
- Cut the boneless skinless chicken thighs into thirds length wise.
- Marinate the boneless skinless chicken thighs overnight.
- Marinate the shrimp for 15 minutes.
- Set your oven to broil. Skewer up all of the pork, chicken, and shrimp. Make sure that our skewers were saoking in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.
- Put the skewers on a rack on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- The chicken skewers will take 7-8 minutes a side.
- The pork skewers with take 6 minutes a side. The shrimp skewers take 3-4 minutes a side.
