Top Chef ™
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Tsukune
Tsukune are Japanese chicken meatballs, popular in yakitori restaurants and izakayas.
These juicy meatballs combine ground chicken with finely chopped onions, ginger, and sometimes shiitake mushrooms. The mixture is typically seasoned with soy sauce, sake, and mirin, then shaped around skewers before grilling.
What makes tsukune distinctive is their texture—slightly bouncy yet tender—achieved by kneading the mixture until sticky. They're typically glazed with tare (a sweet-savory sauce) during grilling for a caramelized finish.
Home cooks can bake them instead of grilling and adjust the seasonings to taste. For authentic texture, include cartilage or use chicken thigh meat with its natural fat. Serve tsukune hot, brushed with additional tare and optionally topped with a sprinkle of sansho pepper.
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About Top Chef ™
Top Chef ™ is an American reality competition television series which has run since March 2006. The show features professional chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
The Top Chef ™ chef-contestants are judged by a counsel of exemplary, world-renowned professional chefs and famous names from the food and wine industry.
The contestants are superb, professional chefs with a huge array of global food skills.
The show is progressive, eliminating one or two chefs each week. Each episode follows a consistent theme with (usually) a Quickfire challenge (short and fun) followed by a more difficult "Elimination Challenge" that is much more intense. The Top Chef ™ Judges Table is where the winners and losers are determined each week.
