A traditional chicken meatball recipe from London’s Jidori restaurant.

The Japanese yakitori restaurant Jidori ­– which opened in Dalston, east London in 2015 – has just launched a new “Omakase” menu, which means, roughly, “chosen by the chef”. This is officially a Good Thing because it takes all the guesswork out of ordering from the restaurant’s wide range of dishes and gives you a flavour of the best it has to offer. The curated selection includes yakitori skewers such as negima (chicken thigh) and tebasaki (chicken wing and shiso, a mint-like herb), as well as greens, rice and onsen (slow-cooked) egg – all of which are created by chef Mr Brett Redman (also of Elliot’s Café in Borough Market and the Richmond in Hackney) using the finest and most seasonal produce. In short, the Omakase menu means no food FOMO: what a treat. What’s more, it will set you back a mere £18. Which, for this kind of thing in London, makes it an opportunity not to be missed.

But in consideration of those not fortunate enough to be able to make it down to Jidori to sample it (at least, without stumping up for a train ticket or transatlantic flight), we asked Mr Redman for a make-at-home recipe for his favourite element of the menu – the tsukune – a Japanese chicken meatball most often cooked yakitori style (skewered over a charcoal fire and seasoned with a tare dipping sauce.)

“The tsukune at Jidori has become our signature dish” says Mr Redman. “Our tsukune is the minced dark meat of the chicken mixed with shiso, spring onions and panko bread crumbs, formed into a meatball on a skewer served with a lightly cured egg yolk on the side. Once on the grill, we brush it liberally with our house made tare. It’s rich, sticky, sweet and intense.”

jidori.co.uk

Makes 8 skewers ** Ingredients:**

For the skewers:

300 grams/10.5oz ground chicken thighs 25 grams/1oz panko breadcrumbs Pinch kosher salt 4 scallions, finely chopped  3 shiso leaves, finely chopped

For the tare:

100g/3.5oz chicken wing tips (or any chicken trimmings) 500ml/17.6oz mirin 500ml/17.6oz sake 500ml/17.6oz soy sauce 2 scallions 1-inch piece ginger 1 garlic clove 100 grams/3.5oz Japanese black sugar 8 egg yolks Equipment:

8 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 2 hours

Method:

Make the tare first. Heat a medium saucepan over a high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning as needed, until golden and caramelised, for about 10 minutes. Add the mirin and sake and cook until thick, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the soy sauce, scallions, ginger and garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add the sugar and cook until dissolved for 5 more minutes. Strain, discarding solids, and cool the tare completely.

Next make the skewers. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken, panko, salt, scallions and shiso. Tradition says to mix it 16 times clockwise then 16 times anti-clockwise to get the right consistency.

Divide the meat into 8 equal pieces and, using your hands, press the meat around each skewer.

Light the grill. Add the skewers to the grill and cook, turning as needed, until almost cooked through, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Brush with the tare and cook until caramelized and done, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer the skewers to a serving platter and keep warm.

Divide the egg yolks between 8 ramekins. Pour some of the tare over each and allow them to sit for 5 minutes to cure slightly before serving with the skewers.