asian chicken meatballs with teriyaki glaze

Michael is well into his last year of school now and, as of this week, I am officially a full-time employee. I’m delighted that I got a job, especially in this really difficult market, and I think it’s going to be a great opportunity. My only sadness is that being employed 40 hours a week seriously cuts into cooking and project time.

I’ve gotten over the worst of the sadness and now feel a sense of adventure at trying to plan meals that are easy for me to make when I get home or are make-ahead that Michael can pop into the oven or heat on the stovetop. It’s a really fun challenge, and I think it’s been great for me.

This is one such meal.

I got the idea that it would be fun to try to make stir fry a little differently. We’ve really fallen in love with the flavors we use for our pork potstickers and I wanted to find a light, tasty way to incorporate those same flavors into a different meal. Thus was born the idea for mini Asian meatballs.

These are made with chicken breast, which keeps them lighter. I like to grind my own ground meats in my food processor fitted with the metal blade, but if you don’t have a food processor, you could absolutely buy ground chicken or turkey breast. We served the meatballs with my favorite sesame teriyaki sauce made into a glaze and a quick stir-fry of bell peppers and zucchini. You could easily use your favorite frozen or fresh stir-fry blend of veggies, or cook up some rice to serve everything over.

For make-ahead, you can blend everything for the meatballs together the night before and keep the mixture in the refrigerator. Then all you need to do is form the meatballs and cook them on the stove. Alternately, you can cook the meatballs and freeze them. When you’re ready to use them, just thaw in the refrigerator and heat up in a saute pan with the teriyaki glaze.

Asian Chicken Meatballs with Teriyaki Glaze

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Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 1lb ground chicken breast
• 1 egg
• 1/4c plain bread crumbs
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1” piece of ginger, minced
• 1/2tsp black pepper
• pinch salt
• 2–3 drops sesame oil
• 1 1/2tsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• canola oil

For the teriyaki glaze:

• 1/2c teriyaki sauce
• 1/3c water
• 2 tsp cornstarch

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Instructions

1. Combine chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, green onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, salt, sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir well to combine. Stir in cornstarch and blend well. Form into small 1-1 1/2″ meatballs and flatten slightly to make small discs. Heat a small drizzle of canola oil in a medium sized pan over medium heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook 2-4 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with second half of the meatballs. Drain any fat or remaining oil from the pan.
2. Combine teriyaki glaze ingredients and pour into the same pan used for the meatballs. Stir to scrape up any brown bits and cook over medium heat until slightly thickened. Add meatballs and stir to coat. Serve with rice, stir-fry vegetables, and green onions for garnish.

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