yoshoku chicken meatballs in gingery tomato sauce

[Thermomixer]

Name of Recipe: yoshoku chicken meatballs in gingery tomato sauce

Number of People: 6

Ingredients:

chicken meatballs
60 g bread, crusts removed, partly frozen
600 g chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped and partly frozen
1/2 large onion, cut into chunks
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
1 large egg
ground white pepper

sauce
1/2 large onion,
1 small red chilli, seeded
1 garlic clove
2cm fresh ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
60 ml mirin
2 x 400 tins tomatoes
1 teaspoon dashi granules
2 teaspoons Japanese soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

For garnish
3 tablespoons finely chopped mitsuba or
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 spring onion (scallion)

Preparation:

To make the meatballs, start by placing the bread in the TM bowl and grate for 15 seconds on speed 8. Remove and set aside.

Place the chicken pieces into the TM bowl, 300g at a time and mince for 15 seconds on speed 7. Set aside.

Put the onion and garlic into the TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides after 5 seconds. Add the oils and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

Add the chicken mince and breadcrumbs, sake, soy sauce, pepper and egg. Mix for 40 seconds on speed 4.

To make the sauce, place the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger into the TM bowl. Chop for 15 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down after 5 seconds. Add the oil and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

While these are sautéing, form the chicken mixture into walnut-sized balls (about 1 level tablespoon for each) and place onto the varoma tray and into the main Varoma dish.

Add to the TM bowl the mirin, tomatoes, dashi granules, soy sauce and sugar and set to cook for 4O minutes at 100°C on speed 2. Place the Varoma with meatballs on top to steam the balls. Check the chicken balls after 20 minutes and when cooked, remove to a Thermoserver or dish to keep warm.

Once the sauce has cooked pour over the meatballs and allow to sit for a few minutes for the flavours to meld.

Stir through the mitsuba or parsley and season, to taste. Serve with freshly cooked noodles.


Photos:





Tips/Hints:

This recipe is based on a recipe from Yoshoku by Jane Lawson http://www.murdochbooks.com.au/yoshoku_pr.pdf
Jane used udon noodles, I used soba noodles. Its up to you – the udon look better, but I didn’t have any on hand.

members' comments

Karonjulie - I made this dish and it was absolutely yum!!    My 12 year old also loved it which is a plus.  This will definitely be a regular for us. I made the meatball mix the day before and place in the fridge on a plate until the next evening as I got home late so all I had to do was the sauce and soak the noodles. A winner.

[Karonjulie]

I made this dish and it was absolutely yum!!    My 12 year old also loved it which is a plus.  This will definately be a regular for us.

I made the meatball mix the day before and place in the fridge on a plate until the next evening, as I got home late so all I had to do was the sauce and soak the noodles.

A winner

[Thermomixer]

Thanks for the feedback 

For those looking at using the Varoma and cooking in TM bowl below, this is a good basis for other similar dishes.

[judydawn]

OK, now you have got me interested in this recipe can you please tell me what I can use as a substitute for sake and dashi granules as I have neither in my pantry.

[cookie1]

I think maybe the saki could be replaced by dry sherry but that is only a think!

[Thermomixer]

OK, now you have got me interested in this recipe can you please tell me what I can use as a substitute for sake and dashi granules as I have neither in my pantry.

You could add some sort of stock powder/mix for the dashi and as cookie says - sherry or water for the sake.  neither are essential

[judydawn]

I lived in Darwin for 2 years around 1970 and we bought home a bottle of saki.  At our homecoming party, some of our guests tried it and my now dear departed girlfriend's personality changed dramatically with just 1 drink of saki - potent stuff!! Thanks Cookie, I though that too but it will be a while before I get to this recipe - so many I want to try now - who needs cookbooks with so many interesting recipes on the forum.

Thanks Thermomixer for your advice too. Maybe in future it would be handy to have substitutes for products not usually stocked in our pantry and often hard to get around the suburbs.

[CarolineW]

I've always been told that rice vinegar or dry sherry are good substitutes for sake.  As for the Dashi, do you have any seaweedy things at all?  alternatively, try a little bit of tuna or the soaking water of shitake mushrooms, as both of these can be components of Dashi, too.  Failing that, why not go for a bit of miso?  The Dashi is just there to add a bit of Japanese style flavour, I think, so the miso may well work.

[Thermomixer]

  The Dashi is just there to add a bit of Japanese style flavour, I think, so the miso may well work.

LOL - well said - this is a bastardised version of a recipe from a book that has recipes based on Japanese dishes translated for Western palates - so anything that makes your audience think - "Hey, that tastes Japanesey!" would be OK.

I think that I might do a "dumbed-down" version (less weird stuff) for the next Thermomix cookbook.  I had all the ingredients in the pantry - but I am weird 

[CarolineW]

he he he    Me too!