This recipe wound up being like an Asian take on an albondigas soup, using black chicken(also called silkie fowl) as the base. Black chicken is a popular ingredient in Asian cuisines because it creates a gorgeous broth. My mother actually loves eating black chicken, which is why I opted to use it to make one of the courses for Mother’s Day(yes I know that Mother’s Day was in May, but I had a giant backlog of recipes, so what I made for that is only getting posted now). In this case, I went with a black chicken broth with tons of ginger, since my mom loves ginger as well. The flesh and skin of the black chicken might not look the most appealing, being either a grey or black color, but it literally tastes just like chicken, but with a Tim Burton/Hot Topic makeover. Just to not waste the chicken meat, I figured, why not turn that into a tsukune(Japanese meat ball) situation? Tsukune is slightly different than a regular meatball in that it is bound with egg white and starch instead of whole eggs and/or panade(soaked breadcrumbs). In the case of my tsukune, I used kewpie mayonnaise in lieu of an egg white because I needed to incorporate more fat into the mince mixture, as black chicken meat is extremely lean. I figured I could use the thigh and breast meat for the meatball mince, and then wrap it in the chicken skin, just as a way to ensure that the meatballs don’t dry out as they cook. The end result was actually a decently juicy meatball! The overall dish was really cute to look at, especially since I garnished this jet black meat ball with a golden chicken broth and some nasturtium leaves and flowers for that peppery finish.

From a time standpoint, the broth takes a long time to make. I actually started this recipe first when I was prepping the courses for Mother’s Day, because I knew that I wanted ample time to extract flavor from the chicken bones. I also broke down my black chicken from a whole one, which you can find available, albeit frozen, at most Asian grocery stores. I almost forgot to mention that when typing this recipe, but black chicken will usually come with the head and legs attached, and even when knowing that, it’s hard not to get a little squeamish at first when seeing that. It is a gruesome-looking ingredient, so if you feel extremely uncomfortable dealing with that, just use a regular chicken from the grocery store instead. Once you get the broth going, however, that gives you plenty of time to work on the meatballs. I used a food processor to create my mince, since I wanted it to be smooth, almost like a tsukune and a gowon(Taiwanese soup meatball) had a baby. The meatballs themselves only need to be roasted for 10 minutes, so they cook really quickly, all things considered. What I like about this recipe is that, butchering the chicken for the broth aside, it does come together with very little additional manual work, and since the broth is the main component of the dish anyways, so long as you give it plenty of time to cook and develop, you will have a rich, fulfilling black chicken dish on your hands!

Makes 4-8 servings:
For the black chicken broth:
1 black chicken, breasts, thighs, oysters, and skins removed(we want just the carcass, legs, head,, drum sticks, and wings here)
2oz peeled ginger
8 cloves peeled garlic
1 bay leaf
2 shallots, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 egg white

In a sheet tray, roast the chicken pieces at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes – reserve the schmaltz(chicken fat), as we will be using that to sweat out the aromatics.

In a large stockpot, add 2 tbsp of the rendered chicken fat and on low heat, stir the ginger, garlic, bay leaf, and shallots until the shallots are translucent. Then add to that the roasted chicken parts and the chicken broth. Simmer everything on medium heat, with the lid on, for 4 hours. At that point, the broth should take on an almost amber color. Bring the heat up to a boil and then in a bowl, whisk up an egg white until froth. Add the egg white into the liquid, allowing it to float at the top for 2-3 minutes. Line a large sieve with a cheese cloth and pour the liquid through to remove the solids and the impurities – you want a relatively clear liquid here. Keep the liquid warm for serving.

For the black chicken tsukune:
meat from 2 black chicken breasts
2 black chicken oysters
meat from 2 black chicken thighs
2 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise
1 tbsp shio koji
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp mochiko
Reserved skin from black chicken thighs and breasts

In a food processor, blend together the raw chicken meat, kewpie, koji, salt, and mochiko until a thick but smooth paste forms. With the chicken skin, cut it into 8 even pieces. Scoop the tsukune mince into 8 1-oz balls and wrap each in the skin. Roast the tsukune at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes.

For garnish:
Nasturtium leaves and flowers