Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

 

I have always been fond of the flavours of Teriyaki.  Teriyaki is a Japanese term for fish or meat that has been marinated or cooked in a Teriyaki sauce/marinade, which is generally composed of soy sauce, sake or mirin, ginger, and sugar (or honey). Sometimes garlic is also added

 

When my children were growing up I used to make something which I called Amanda's Steak, which was basically Flank Steak marinated in a teriyaki marinade.  My youngest daughter Amanda loved it, which is how it eventually got called Amanda's steak in our home. I can't believe I have never cooked it on here.  Time to rectify that I guess because, it is really, really good and I am sure you would like it.

 

Today I decided to adapt my favourite Teriyaki Meatball recipe to use ground turkey instead of beef, with excellent results.   We like ground turkey in our house, but if you don't, feel free to use ground beef in it's place, or even pork or ground chicken! 

 

Just make sure you use a mix of ground breast and thigh meat for the best results.  Using all breast meat will result in dry meatballs.  Just a warning here.  You want a bit of fat to help to keep them succulent! 

 

There is plenty of garlic in the meatballs themselves, plus some spring onions, an egg white, lemon juice and seasoning.  No bread crumbs are used and if you use gluten free soya sauce in the sauce, these are completely gluten free for those who are gluten intolerant.

 

Just mix all of the meatball ingredients together, making sure they are well combined. (Do use a light touch, as too rough a handling will toughen ground meat. )  Wet your hands and shape them into balls about the size of a walnut.

 

You should get about 20 balls. I like to brown them in a bit of oil in a hot skillet.  Just keep turning them as they brown, until they are golden brown all over.  I use an old pair of tongs for this and it works fine.  They shouldn't stick.

 

Once they are all golden brown, I pop them into a baking dish and pour the teriyaki sauce over and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened a bit.  Sometimes I double the sauce because it is really very yummy and we like a lot of sauce.

  

These are great served with steamed or fried rice.  I think steamed rice is actually best, but today I did broccoli fried rice as I had some broccoli which needed using up.  Delicious! 

Yield: 4Author: Marie Rayner

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs

prep time: 10 minscook time: 25 minstotal time: 35 mins

I converted my favourite Teriyaki Meatball Recipe to use ground turkey instead of chicken or beef.  Make sure you don't use the really lean turkey as they will be a bit dry.

ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (use a mix of breast and thigh meat)

3 spring onions, finely minced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and grated

1 large free range egg white

1 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Oil for shallow frying

(use a mild flavoured oil, such as sunflower)

For the sauce:

80ml Japanese Mirin (Sweet Rice Wine)

2 TBS dark soy sauce

1 TBS liquid honey

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Thinly sliced spring onions to garnish

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Have ready a shallow
baking dish large enough to hold the meatballs in a single layer.

Mix
 the turkey, onions, garlic, egg white lemon juice, salt and black
pepper together with a fork to well combine.  Shape into around 20
meatballs, setting them onto a parchment lined plate as you go along.

Place
 a thin layer of oil in a heated skillet.  Once it is hot add the
meatballs in a single layer and cook, turning frequently, until browned
all over, about 5 minutes.  Place them into the baking dish in a single
layer.  Whisk together the Mirin, soy sauce, honey and ground ginger
until well amalgamated.  Pour over the meatballs in the baking dish,
turning them to coat them in the sauce.

Bang
 into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the
meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.  Serve hot
with the sauce spooned over, and garnished with thinly sliced spring onions. We like fried or steamed rice with these.

Note - you may want to double the sauce ingredients. I often do.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

The sauce on these is not really thick and cloying, but it is really beautifully flavoured.  If you don't have any mirin in your cupboard, no worries, it is a bit of an unusual ingredient.  Simple subs and hacks can easily mimic mirin’s sweet-tangy flavor. Dry sherry, sweet Marsala wine, dry white wine, and rice vinegar will do the trick, for instance, if you mix in about 1/2 teaspoon sugar per tablespoon. I really hope you will try these and enjoy them!  Bon Appetit!