The Ultimate Comfort Food: Tsukune Hot Pot 鶏つくね鍋

By Just One Cookbook · 60 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Add 6 cups water and the kombu to a large shallow pot. Let the kombu soak while you prepare the rest.
2. Combine 1 lb ground chicken, 1 Tbsp grated ginger with its juice, 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sake, 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (half that for table salt), 1 large egg and 3 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch in a bowl. Add the sliced green onions and knead in one direction until pale, roughly 100 times. Cover and refrigerate to firm up.
3. Cut the napa cabbage into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces, halving or thirding thick pieces lengthwise. Cut the shungiku into 2-inch pieces.
4. Peel the daikon, carrot and gobo, then shave them into superthin strips. Soak the gobo in water for 5 minutes and drain well.
5. Cut the Tokyo negi diagonally into 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) pieces. Cut the tofu into thirds widthwise, then cut each piece into 3/4-inch (2 cm) slices.
6. Trim the shimeji root ends and the shiitake stems. Optionally, cut a flower pattern into the caps. Arrange all the cut ingredients on a platter.
7. Heat the water and kombu over medium-low, bringing it slowly to a bare simmer over about 10 minutes. Remove the kombu just before the broth simmers.
8. Add 3 Tbsp sake, 2 Tbsp mirin and 2 Tbsp soy sauce to the broth and bring to a boil over medium heat.
9. Once boiling, add the gobo strips and cook covered for 3 minutes.
10. Shape the tsukune mixture into meatballs about 1 1/2 Tbsp each (a cookie scoop works), and drop them into the simmering broth. Cover and cook 7-8 minutes, until they float and an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F (74°C).
11. Remove two-thirds of the meatballs to a covered plate and keep the pot lidded.
12. Transfer the pot to a portable stove at the table on medium-low (or medium if slow to simmer). Put 2 Tbsp ponzu and some chopped green onion into each small dipping bowl.
13. Add the tofu, mushrooms and all vegetables except the leafy greens to the simmering pot. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through. Then add the shungiku and napa cabbage greens (leafy greens) and cover to cook 2 minutes.
14. Serve into bowls, season with shichimi, sansho or yuzu kosho if you like, and dip into ponzu. Add the reserved meatballs and vegetables to replenish the pot as you eat.

Summarized from Just One Cookbook's video. Watch it for the details.

More recipes with

EggGingerScallionCarrotMushroomCabbageTofuShiitake mushroom