Growing up, this is one of the things we often made for parties with other Japanese-Australian families and it was always a hit with everyone, especially with the children – we nicknamed this dish ‘yummy chicken’, which says it all really.
The key here is marinating the chicken in the sauce. Don’t be tempted to keep all the delicious marinade in the tray because it will just burn. Instead, drain off the marinade, cook it separately to reduce it, then use it as a glaze towards the end of cooking. You could use fish fillets here instead of the chicken, too. Sake is used for flavour and is a tenderiser, but if you don’t have it, you can use a splash of white wine instead. If you don’t have mirin handy, try a delicate honey instead, which is what my mother would have used.
Chef Hooni Kim, author of My Korea: Traditional Flavors; Modern Recipes, shares this building block recipe for traditional Korean fritters, jeon. Use this technique with anything you like - - from slices of tofu and mushrooms to fish or beef to sweet potatoes. Or start here with zucchini!
SERVES 4 TO 6
Tsukune is a Japanese-style meatball that is typically cooked yakitori style over live coals and accompanied by a rich dipping sauce. They are most often made with ground chicken thighs for rich flavor. At my parties, however, I have switched to ground turkey—US groceries sometimes won’t even sell ground chicken, let alone ground thighs, and turkey is both readily available and inexpensive. The following recipe finishes the meatballs under the broiler, but they are also marvelous grilled.
This recipe hits all the flavor notes of KFC, Korean Fried Chicken—sweet, salty, spicy, extremely savory. But instead of going through the trouble of setting up a deep fryer or panfrying on the stovetop, which is always a pain and a mess, this is a just-as-delicious recipe for the oven that will impress your family and friends. Please have a lot of napkins handy.
Cooking your fish in a parcel is a great way to keep it juicy and tender. It’s a fabulous method to apply to different fish and flavors. Try using curry leaves, tomatoes and garlic or soy, chili and a little Shaoxing wine as alternatives.
Miso-glazed salmon promises firm, flavorful fish with a glazed, lacquer-like exterior but takes 3 days to prepare. This version shortens the process, but still achieves the depth of sweet-savory flavor that this dish is known for.
Ingredients
I could live on this. It's so easy and yet utterly beautiful looking, I always feel better after eating it.
This miso-based marinade produces spectacular results with fatty or oily fish such as salmon, sea bass, yellow tail, black cod, blue fish, and pompano. It cures the flesh slightly and permeates it with a delicate flavor. Grilling caramelizes and glazes the surface, leaving the flesh succulent. Plan to marinate the fish at least 12 hours before cooking. If you don't have sake, use a total of 1/2 cup mirin.