Preheat oven to 375°; line baking sheet pan with parchment paper.

Ingredients

• 1–1 1/2 lbs ground pheasant
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 shallots, finely diced (you could substitute green onions)
• 1-2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 1-2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 2 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• olive oil for baking

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl with your hands, especially to get the two meats distributed well.
2. Using a small scoop, form the mixture into meatballs of about 3/4-1″, placing them on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
3. Drizzle olive oil over the meatballs.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn and bake for another ten minutes.

Feel free to brown them in a skillet, but I’m not really into that, myself. I would, however, like them simmered in the soup, because I don’t care about the browning, so there’s another option.

This recipe is simple because it doesn’t require making your own stock, but please do so if you have the time or have some homemade stock on hand.

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup white miso paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• [2 teaspoons dashi powder, if you can find it—I could not ,at my grocery]
• 9-12 oz Japanese ramen noodles, boiled then rinsed in cold water
• 1 cup snow peas, steamed in microwave for just 2 minutes
• 1 can sliced bamboo shoots
• 1 can baby corn
• meatballs (above)

Preparation

1. Bring stock (and dashi powder, if you found it) to a boil in large saucepan. Stir in chopped spinach and simmer for about 5 minutes until wilted.
2. Stir in miso and soy sauce.
3. Arrange noodles, corn, bamboo shoots, and snow peas in bowls. Add a few meatballs and a ladle of stock.