About Yakitori (Japanese Chicken Kebabs)

Chicken meat balls

Chicken meat balls are tender and great with sauce.(Tare)

Japanese Name

Tsukune

Parts

 

Feature
  • Chicken meatballs can differ in shape, texture and cooking method depending on which restaurant you go to. When cooking meatballs, some restaurants use neck meat and some pork, mixed with some spring onion, macrophyll and some other vegetables. They usually also make their own original sauce for it.
Yakitori memo
  • Japanese people call grilled chicken meatballs “Tsukune”. In the old days, people in Kyushu and Shikoku (in the southen part of Japan) had some eggs and yam in their tsukune, and people in Kansai and Kanto (the main island of Japan) had some fish meat in it.
  • Chicken meatballs have a unique oval shape. They usually contain some fish meat, so they have a stronger taste.
  • The longer you cook chicken meatballs, the more they shrink and go dry. The texture changes depending on how it is cooked.
  • Fat usually disappears off chicken meatballs on skewers when they are cooked under heat. Overcooking them makes them harder.
  • Chicken mince is very hard to keep fresh, as it goes off quicker than other meat. Some restaurants fry the oval meat ball, and then cool them in the fridge before serving to lock in the taste. These days, mixing gristles into the chicken meatballs is becoming more popular. There are all sorts of differently shaped meatballs from ovals to sticks.
Chicken meat balls
Energy (kcal)
[166]
Water Content (g)
[69.8]
Protein (g)
[20.9]
Fat (g)
[8.3]
Carbohydrate (g)
[0]
Calcium (mg)
[11]
Iron (mg)
[1.2]
Zinc (mg)
[0.7]

※Per 100g (actual measument)