My Japanese Table's Terriyaki Chicken Balls

Not all cookbooks are created equal. Debra Samuel's My Japanese Table: A Lifetime of Cooking with Friends and Familyis one of the few cookbooks I enjoyed leafing through.  A good cookbook inspires me to get on my feet and try making new dishes. These chicken balls were quite easy to make and delicately tasty. Great for bentos too.

½ cup cornstarch or katakuriko

500 g ground chicken

½ t salt

1 large egg white, beaten until foamy

2 t grated ginger

¼ t pepper

2 green onions finely chopped

Mix ground chicken, salt, egg white, ginger, pepper and green onions. Scoop up a spoonful and shape into a ball. Roll in cornstarch. In a pot, boil the following:

3 cups water

2 t dashi powder (optional) or 1 sachet of natural dashi

2 slices fresh ginger

Drop the chicken balls in. Move them a bit so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. Boil until they change color (to white) and float easily in the broth. Remove the balls. Toss them in the terriyaki sauce below. Serve them as is or skewered in a stick. 

 

Terriyaki sauce (I made 1/4 of this recipe for the chicken balls above)

2 cups mirin

2 cups sake

6 T brown sugar

1 cup soy sauce

6 slices ginger, smashed

In a saucepan, bring mirin and sake to a boil. Add sugar, soy sauce and ginger. Boil on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator. It can keep for months.