Monday, August 22, 2011

Balls

Japanese style Scotch Egg with Oregon chicken

DSC_0836My husband’s co-worker handed him a sack of green beans other day. Nice! Our green beans in the garden stopped growing  for some weird reason. Like it’s saying, yep, I’m done, I can’t work with this weak sun. You little spoiled GB you! That is true that we didn’t have very many hot days in Portland, Oregon and August is fleeting. That makes me a little melancholic.DSC_0756

I have no idea what to do with this green of freshness, I start digging in my files for inspiration. This Scotch Egg like recipe I found in ‘Orange Page’ Japanese magazine published in 1996. Instead of ground beef, this uses ground breast chicken. Japanese called this tsukune- not my favorite kind of meat- too tame in flavor but it’s fried food! Which is my favorite method of cooking and all the ingredients I have at home is definite plus.

6-8 chicken balls depending on sizes.DSC_0827

  • 6-8  small eggs hard boiled and shelled
  • Chicken breasts 450-500g
  • Corn-canned (drained) or fresh corn cooked and cut kernel from cob 250g
  • Green beans 60g cut in small pieces
  • 2 Tablespoons sake
  • 2 Teaspoons salt
  • 1 Teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons corn starch plus more for dusting. I used potato starch for this.
  • Oil for frying
  1. Make ground chicken by laying the chicken on the cutting board then pound with sharp knife until minced or use a food processer to grind the chicken.
  2. Mix ground chicken, corn and green beans.
  3. Add seasoning-sake, salt,pepper and cornstarch then mix well till sticky. Divide in 6-8 portions
  4. Lay out a good size plastic wrap and put meat mixture in the center. Spread meat mixture thin but not too thin so that you can wrap the boiled egg without tearing.
  5. Dust the egg with corn starch. Tap to remove excess starch. Put it in the center of meat mixtureDSC_0828
  6. Pull the edge of wrap to form ball around the egg. Twist tightly so that it holds together. DSC_0832
  7. Dust with cornstarch and  deep fry the balls at over medium heat until golden color.DSC_0835
  8. Put a couple of paper towel on a large plate and place the fried balls to drain excess oil.

Cut a ball in fourths and simply mix 6 tablespoons of  ketchup and 2 tablespoons of  Dijon mustard as dipping sauce. Ponzu soy sauce with hot Japanese mustard is also good.  DSC_0840

A person who works for my husband gave him this homemade mustard last Christmas, It has great flavor and beats out Gray Poupon.DSC_0855

I found a zucchini on our door step someone left with a note attached. DSC_0761How sweet!  You shouldn’t have. We have a reason not to grow zucchini in our garden but we graciously accept this size. I didn’t have whole lot of time left till dinner, so I simply sautéed with butter along with eringi. Though I should have made  Marc’s zucchini fritter, I already made fried food with gift of fresh crops.DSC_0843

With a few drops of soy sauce, it was delicious. Thank you, squash loving neighbor!

14 comments:

  1. I've never tried this before but your post looks promising, looking forward to try it out, nice photos

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  2. とっても美味しそう!!

    いつも手の凝ったメニューで、楽しませてもらっています

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  3. What an interesting recipe! I will definitely try it soon. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to visiting your new posts, too :)

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  4. What a lovely recipe!!! Thank you Nin, how are you my friend? I can not believed you used the word "Huzzah" I thought that was something only I said? lol ('m a New York City Jersey Hybrid)

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  5. Dear Tres Delicious, Thank you! I appreciate your visit again. I'm enjoying your blog too.

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  6. ちびかーちゃん、アリゾナはかなり暑そうですね。涼しいオレゴンに遊びに来てね。コメントありがとう。

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  7. Dear Avocadorable, Oh! I love your blog name. Thank you for your comment.

    Hi Elle Marie, I'm doing great! It's not me that used the word. I hope for more zucchini drop off though. Thank you so much for your comment.

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  8. Thanks for the rice flour! I'm not sure if I told you thank you yet. I'm so excited to make your roll cake! I'll have to put something different inside though. Maybe some coconut cream.

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  9. 美味しそう!私はいつもquail eggで作るんだけど、small eggsって普通の卵かな??卵が大きい分、とても美味しそう!!私卵入りのもの大好きです・・・(笑)。そうそう、明美さんはオレゴンですね。遠いようで、ブログの世界では近い方かな?いつかオレゴンに行ったらお会いしたいです!

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  10. Emily, You''re welcome. Send me a picture of your version of roll cake, OK? I hope you're doing well. Miss you.


    なみちゃん、小さめの普通の卵という意味なんですけど、ここでは見つからず、Largeを使っています。大きすぎて包むのがむずかしかったです。
    11月のサンフランシスコのコンベンションで会えるかな?
    いつもあなたのステキなブログに感心してます。

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  11. You have to use sausage meat for Scotch Eggs, I use Jimmy Deans with sage and than use some breadcrumbs and egg and extra dried sage. Egg and panko crumb and bake in oven in heated vegetable oil for about 20 mins turning once.

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  12. Dear Anonymous, Thank you for the tips. I sure try this method. I don't have to deep fry it so it will be less fat.

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  13. This is awesome I'm going to make this for my friends next time they come over. I love that you included eggs along with egg yolks. I hate recipes that don't include egg yorks because they are so tasty and good for you.

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