Description
This Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs recipe features tender, flavorful chicken meatballs coated in a glossy, homemade teriyaki sauce made with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. Quick to prepare and cook in a skillet, these meatballs make a perfect savory dish served over rice and garnished with green onions and sesame seeds. The recipe uses accessible ingredients and simple techniques for an authentic Japanese-inspired meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Teriyaki Sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/4 cup / 65ml soy sauce (all purpose / ordinary)
- 1/4 cup / 65ml cooking sake (or Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry)
- 1/4 cup / 65ml Mirin
- 1 tbsp white sugar (brown sugar also ok)
- ¾ cup / 180 ml water
Meatballs
- 500 g / 1 lb chicken mince (ground chicken, or substitute with pork or turkey)
- 1 egg (preferably small, approx. 50g / 1.4 oz)
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or ¾ cup normal breadcrumbs)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 ½ tsp cooking sake (or Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry)
- ½ tsp salt
Cooking
- 1 tbsp oil (for frying)
- Sliced green onions / scallions, for garnish (optional)
- Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Combine Meatball Ingredients: Place the chicken mince, egg, panko breadcrumbs, minced garlic, cooking sake, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Prepare Teriyaki Sauce Mixture: In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth and lump-free. Then add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar to this mixture and stir well.
- Add Teriyaki Sauce to Meatball Mix: Pour 2 teaspoons of the prepared teriyaki sauce into the meatball mixture to infuse flavor.
- Finish Sauce Base: Add the remaining water into the teriyaki sauce bowl and mix thoroughly, then set the sauce aside.
- Form Meatballs: Mix the meatball ingredients thoroughly with your hands until well combined. Using a heaped tablespoon measure, scoop and roll the mixture into balls. If the mixture is too sticky, refrigerate to firm up or lightly oil your hands to make rolling easier.
- Cook Meatballs: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add all the meatballs and cook, turning frequently to brown evenly, for approximately 5 minutes. The meatballs will still be slightly undercooked inside at this stage.
- Add and Thicken Sauce: Reduce heat to low. Stir the teriyaki sauce again, pour it into the skillet with the meatballs, and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce thickens to a glossy coating on the meatballs.
- Serve: Serve the meatballs hot over cooked rice. Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
- The recommended soy sauce brand is Kikkoman, which balances flavor between dark and light soy sauce. A substitute can be an equal mix of light and dark soy sauces, but avoid using only dark soy sauce due to its intense flavor.
- Cooking sake and mirin are essential for authentic teriyaki flavor; mirin does not have a good substitute, but sake can be replaced with dry sherry or Chinese cooking wine. The alcohol content cooks off during preparation.
- If the chicken mince is too wet for forming meatballs, refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, lightly oil your hands before rolling, or add more breadcrumbs in emergencies.
- Nutrition values are calculated per serving assuming four servings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 700 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 29 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
