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Tsukune Don (Japanese Chicken Meatball Rice Bowl)

Tsukune (つくね) are the chicken meatballs you find at every yakitori bar, glazed in sweet soy tare and dipped in a raw egg yolk. This rice bowl brings them home with no skewers or grill needed.

The meatballs are soft and juicy thanks to a little potato starch and grated ginger, and the tare is pantry-simple: soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar.

Use the freshest eggs you can find for the yolk on top, or swap it for a soft-boiled egg.

Servings
4
Prep Time
10
mins
Cook Time
15
mins
Ingredients
14
Total Time
25
mins

Pantry bits

Soy Sauce
Soy Sauce
Mirin (Japanese Sweet Rice Wine)
Mirin (Japanese Sweet Rice Wine)
Sake (Japanese Rice Wine)
Sake (Japanese Rice Wine)
Potato starch
Potato starch
Nori Seaweed
Nori Seaweed
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice)
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice)

Ingredients

  • 500g chicken mince (thigh if possible)
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tbsp potato starch or cornflour
  • 1 tsp soy sauce, for the meatballs
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp sake
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 4 cups steamed Japanese short-grain rice
  • 4 very fresh egg yolks (optional)
  • Shredded nori and shichimi togarashi, to serve

Instructions

  1. Mix the chicken, spring onion, ginger, potato starch, 1 tsp soy sauce and salt in a bowl and stir hard with a spoon for 1 minute until sticky. With wet hands, shape into 12 small oval patties.
  2. Mix the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a small bowl.
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the tsukune for 3 minutes until golden, flip, cover and cook for 4 minutes until cooked through.
  4. Wipe out excess oil, pour in the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, turning the tsukune, until they're sticky and glazed.
  5. Serve over rice with the remaining glaze spooned over. Top each bowl with an egg yolk, spring onion, nori and shichimi togarashi.

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