Japanese Chicken Yakitori Recipes

Steps:

• Marinade: Smash and peel garlic cloves, then place in a small saucepan. Slice unpeeled ginger into coins (about 5 slices); add to the saucepan, followed by the mirin, soy sauce, and honey. Over medium-high heat, bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent honey from burning; allow to simmer for about 1 minute. Set aside to cool by placing into a large skillet filled with cold water.
• Trim root ends from scallions; then cut the white and light green parts into 1-inch pieces. (Reserve green stalks for garnish.) Set aside. Slice each chicken thigh into 4 equal pieces. If using skewers, thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, alternating with pieces of scallion.
• Place skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and pour marinade to coat chicken and scallions. Marinate for at least 30 minutes (and up to 3-4 hours), flipping the skewers in the marinade every 5-7 minutes. (Note: Chicken can be marinated the day before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.) While chicken marinates, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat grill pan over high heat, 5-10 minutes (time will vary, depending on pan). Reserving the marinade, place chicken skewers on the hot grill and cook for 2-3 minutes; place a heavy plate or skillet on the chicken and press down to create grill marks. Flip skewers and repeat, 2-3 more minutes. Place the chicken, still in the grill pan, in the oven and bake, 10 minutes. Meanwhile, finish the sauce.
• Pour the marinade back into a saucepan and add the miso. Bring to a boil (which will kill off any bacteria from the raw chicken) and reduce slightly, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove grill pan from oven and transfer skewers to a plate. When the sauce has reduced, brush it over the chicken. Slice reserved scallion greens and sprinkle over the skewers before serving.

Steps:

• Cut the chicken thigh meat into 3/4 inch cubes. Cut the scallions crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces. Heat the grill. Thread chicken and scallion pieces onto the skewers, alternately.
• Make the Sauce: In a small pot combine the saki, mirin, garlic, ginger, red pepper, sugar and soy sauces. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until sauce is reduced by about one quarter.
• Grill the skewers for 2 minutes. Brush with sauce and turn, brush with sauce on the other side. Grill for 5-8 minutes more, brushing with sauce every 2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and glazed.
• If you can find these ingredients, serve yakitori with sansho and Japanese 7 spice to sprinkle on top.

Steps:

• Special equipment: 6-inch wooden skewers, soaked in cold water for at least 1 hour
• Whisk together the radish puree, mirin, sake, oil, soy and hot sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 and up to 8 hours.
• Preheat a charcoal grill or kamado-style ceramic charcoal cooker for direct grilling over high heat.
• Using 2 skewers for each chicken thigh, thread the edges of the meat onto the skewers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until charred and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board.
• Whisk together the oil, rice vinegar, soy, lime juice and sugar in a large bowl and season with pepper. Pour some over the mizuna, toss to coat and mound in a large shallow serving bowl. Toss the noodles with the remaining dressing and mound in the center of the mizuna.
• Cut the chicken thighs in half down the middle between the skewers to make kebabs. Arrange the skewers spoke-like around the mizuna, chicken toward the center, drizzle with additional hot sauce and serve.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; set aside half the mixture for serving., Thread peppers onto 2 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Thread chicken onto 6 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat until meat is cooked through, 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally and basting frequently with soy sauce mixture during the last 3 minutes. Grill peppers, covered, until tender, 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. Grill onions, covered, until lightly charred, 1-2 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve chicken and vegetables with reserved sauce for dipping.

Steps:

• Fill a chimney starter to the rim with charcoal and burn the charcoal until it is lightly covered with ash. Spread the charcoal in a tightly packed, single layer across one-half of the charcoal grate. Put the cooking grate in place, close the lid, and let the charcoal burn down to high heat (450° to 550°F). Leave all the vents open. If you are using a gas grill, preheat your grill on high until it reaches 500°F.
• In a medium bowl combine the chicken pieces with the oil, salt, and pepper and mix well. Thread the chicken pieces through their centers on the top half of the skewers. The chicken pieces should touch, but do not cram them together. Refrigerate until ready to grill, or as long as 2 hours.
• In a small saucepan mix the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the liquid is reduced to ½ to ¾ cup, about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
• Brush the cooking grates clean. Place a strip of aluminum foil on the cooking grate over the empty section of the charcoal grate or over an unlit burner. Grill the skewers over direct high heat, with the bare wooden section of the skewers placed over the foil. Close the lid and cook until the meat is lightly charred on the surface, 4 to 5 minutes, turning once and swapping their positions as needed for even cooking. Open the lid and begin turning and basting the chicken with the sauce (you may not need all of the sauce) until fully cooked, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Remove from the grill and serve warm.

Steps:

• To prepare the tukedare, combine the soy sauce, sake, water, ginger juice, sesame oil, lemon juice, kombu, and sugar in a saucepot over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer until the kombu becomes soft, about 20 minutes. Strain the sauce into a narrow container and mix in the ichimi togarashi. Set aside.
• To prepare the yakitori, remove the wings from the chicken. Butterfly the middle piece (which has 2 bones), keeping the bone and skin. Thread 2 skewers through both pieces to hold them together, with the skin side down. Set aside.
• Next, remove the skin from the remaining chicken and set aside. Remove the bones from the chicken breast, legs, and thighs and cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Now you're ready to skewer. The trick here is to alternate different combinations of meat and vegetables-have fun with it! To start, thread 3 pieces of dark meat onto a skewer, alternating with some onion and shiitake mushrooms. Be sure to leave at least 1 inch of the skewer uncovered. Now repeat with the chicken breast cubes, this time alternately skewering with scallions and shiitake mushrooms. Next, try a combination with bell peppers. Repeat until all the skewers are prepared. Finally, don't forget to skewer the chicken skin and chicken liver, both traditional delicacies in Japan. But with these two, do not add any vegetables (so the skin and liver can cook uniformly).
• Heat a barbecue grill or stove-top grill pan over medium heat. Set several skewers of chicken and vegetables and the skin on the grill so the uncovered parts of the skewers hang over the edge. Flip the yakitori after 2 minutes, then cook 1 minute longer on the other side to sear evenly. Remove and dip the yakitori into tukedare to lightly coat (you can also use a pastry brush for this step). Now you're ready to slowly caramelize the sauce and cook the chicken, using the following technique: Return the skewers to the grill and cook for 1 minute. Remove and again dip into the tukedare. Return to the grill, turning the skewer to cook the other side for another minute. Repeat these steps until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Remember to grill over lower heat than we typically use to barbecue in America, and grill patiently and slowly. You'll turn and dip the skewers at least four times.
• Lightly salt the reserved chicken wings and liver pieces and follow the slow turning technique described above-but do not dip them into the tukedare. In Japan, yakitori wings are traditionally grilled only with a salt coating, not with sauce.
• Line up the grilled yakitori on a platter and serve.

Steps:

• Soak the skewers in a bowl of water while you prepare everything else, to prevent them from burning. Tip the soy, mirin, sake and sugar into a small saucepan, and cook over a medium heat for about 15 mins until the sauce is glossy.
• Remove the skewers from the water and thread each one with a piece of chicken, followed by a piece of spring onion. Repeat twice more so the skewer is well stacked. Fill all four skewers.
• Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat - you want to cook the chicken fairly gently so it soaks up the sauce. Put the skewers in the pan, then brush with the sauce. Cook for 10 mins, turning regularly and brushing in all the sauce. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Soak 10 wooden skewers in cold water for 15 minutes.
• Thread chicken pieces onto the soaked skewers, alternating with scallions.
• Combine sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 of the sauce for dipping.
• Heat a grill pan over high heat and lightly brush with vegetable oil. Add skewers and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center, basting frequently with 1/2 of the sauce, 7 to 10 minutes per side.

Steps:

• Cut chicken into one-inch pieces and place in a shallow dish.
• In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce or tamari, mirin, sake or sherry, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes, until thickened. Reserve 2 tablespoons sauce for serving. Pour remaining sauce over chicken, cover, and chill for at least one hour (and up to 4 hours).
• If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for one hour. Preheat grill or broiler. Thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and grill or broil, turning halfway, for about 3 minutes for livers, 10 minutes for gizzards and 6 minutes for thighs. Serve drizzled with reserved sauce and garnished with scallions.