Grilled Veal Tsukune Meatballs With Ginger-Buttermilk Sauce

By ltrodrigu

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground veal
• 2 tablespoons red miso
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup arugula
• 16 (8- to 10-inch) wood skewers, soaked in water 1 hour

Details

Servings 16
Adapted from wsj.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat a large heavy sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté ⅔ pound ground veal, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until opaque and just cooked through, 4 minutes. Don’t let veal brown. Transfer veal and juices to a large mixing bowl and let cool completely.

Transfer veal to a cutting board and finely chop. Transfer veal to a bowl. Use your hands to fold in remaining raw veal, miso, salt, lemon zest, pepper flakes, oregano, pepper and shallots.

Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, whip veal mixture at medium speed until it’s tacky and fat streaks sides of bowl, 1 minute. Use a ¼-cup measure to scoop out veal mixture, then with wet hands shape 2-inch meatballs and set on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.

Hold 2 wooden skewers parallel, ½ inch apart. Thread a meatball onto the two skewers. Thread another meatball onto the skewers, ½ inch above the other. Set skewered meatballs on baking sheet and repeat with remaining meatballs and skewers. Loosely cover with plastic wrap. (If prepping ahead, you can refrigerate skewered meatballs up to 12 hours.)

Make Ginger-Buttermilk Sauce:
In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, honey, ginger and salt until smooth. Let rest at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Light a chimney starter of charcoal. Once coals are very hot and lightly ash over, pour into grill and distribute evenly. Set grate in place.

Scrunch aluminum foil into two (1½-inch-wide) cylinders, 20-24 inches long. When coals emit a medium heat (you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above grate for only 5 seconds), scrape grate clean, then set foil tubes on grate, 6 inches apart. Lay skewers across tubes so meatballs are suspended above grate. Cook, rotating frequently, until golden brown all over and cooked through, 10-12 minutes.

Transfer skewers to a warm platter and scatter arugula leaves on top. Serve with ginger-buttermilk sauce on the side.