Steps

1. Break the washed bean sprouts (200g) into bite-sized pieces by hand. This helps them blend well with the ground meat, creating a more cohesive texture.
   🕒 00:55
2. Add potato starch (2 tbsp) to the broken bean sprouts (200g) and thoroughly coat them. This locks in moisture, keeps them crispy, and helps them mix better with the ground meat.
   🕒 02:20
3. In a bowl, push the coated bean sprouts to one side. Add ground meat (200g) to the empty space, along with miso (2 tbsp), mirin (2 tbsp), and grated ginger (a pinch). Knead everything into the ground meat. Seasoning the ground meat first helps eliminate any gamey smell and allows the flavors to meld better.
   🕒 03:00
4. Mix the seasoned ground meat with the potato starch-coated bean sprouts. Break up the bean sprouts further and vigorously mix everything together, ensuring the ground meat coats each strand of bean sprout. The potato starch acts as a binder, helping the ground meat adhere well to the bean sprouts.
   🕒 03:55
5. Heat vegetable oil (for cooking) in a frying pan. Divide the mixture into about 12 portions and place them in the pan without worrying too much about shaping them.
   🕒 04:37
6. Turn on the heat and sear one side of the tsukune until nicely browned.
   🕒 05:16
7. Flip the tsukune and sear the other side until browned.
   🕒 05:40
8. Pour in cooking sake (or water) (1 tbsp), cover with a lid, and steam-fry until fluffy.
   🕒 05:54
9. Transfer the tsukune to a plate. Top with sesame seeds (for topping) and aonori (dried green seaweed) (for topping), if desired. Because they are well-seasoned with miso, no extra sauce is needed.
   🕒 06:22