I used to call this dish “teriyaki meatballs”. But I have since learned the difference between teriyaki and shigureni so an update is in order. It’s all explained in another post and you’ll find the link below.
Beef shigureni
Thinly sliced meat simmered in soy sauce, sake and mirin with ginger and sugar. A tasty and boldly flavored stew, the sauce of beef shigureni is a sweeter version of teriyaki with the subtle heat of ginger. Perfect donburi meal!
Now, about meatballs shigureni… What meat goes into the meatballs? Any meat — pork, beef, chicken, turkey or a combination of two or more of these — will be good.
Whatever meat you choose, I do not recommend lean meat especially if you are not frying the meatballs. Meatballs made with lean meat has that cardboard mouthfeel.
The meatballs can be seasoned with just salt and pepper. It’s just my personal prefrence to make them echo the flavors of the teriyaki sauce. Not too much soy sauce though because I did not want them to look too dark by serving time.
So, for the salty component of the seasoning, I combined light soy sauce with rock salt. I also added a few drops of sesame seed oil to give the meatballs a roasted nutty aroma and added depth of flavor.
Meatballs shigureni
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 250 grams ground meat I used pork with at least 20 percent fat
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon grated ginger
- drizzle sesame seed oil
Sauce
- ¼ cup Japanese soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup sake
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
To serve
- toasted sesame seeds
- sliced scallions
Instructions
- Place the ground meat in a mixing bowl. Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, rock salt, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and ⅓ teaspoon of grated ginger. Mix just until combined.
- Form into balls (how large or how small is up to you) then cook either by deep frying, pan frying, baking, grilling or broiling.
- When the meatballs are almost done, make the sauce. Pour the quarter cup of soy sauce, mirin, honey and half teaspoon of grated ginger is a shallow pan and heat until simmering.
- Add the meatballs and cook over medium-low heat until the meatballs soak up the sauce and acquire its color. For even coloring, roll the meatballs around in the sauce while simmering.
- To serve: Ladle rice into bowls and arrange meatballs shigureni on top. If any sauce is left, spoon over the meatballs. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallions before serving.
