Chicken Yakitori Recipes

EASY CHICKEN YAKITORI

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.

YAKITORI (JAPANESE SKEWERED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Add Sauce ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium or medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the quantity by about a third. (Note 6).

CHICKEN YAKITORI

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.

YAKITORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse together chicken, eggs, garlic, 2 tablespoons ginger, scallions, salt, flour, cornstarch and panko until well combined. Form chicken mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls. To prevent mixture from sticking to your fingers, wet hands with water between rolling balls. Place balls on a plate, without touching.
• Meanwhile, roughly chop the 2-inch piece of ginger and in a medium pot over high heat, bring water to boil and add ginger. Place 8 to 10 balls at a time into the water. Cook for about 6 minutes. (Balls will float to top and change color, but inspect for pink on outside.) Remove from water using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all balls are cooked. When cool enough to handle, thread 3 balls per bamboo skewer and set aside.
• To make the yakitori sauce, whisk together sake, soy sauce, mirin, honey and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Preheat gas grill to medium heat. Place skewers on lightly oiled grill. (Wipe oil on with a paper towel.) Cook 7 to 10 minutes, turning gently as they brown lightly. When chicken is done, lightly baste balls with the yakitori sauce. Place skewers on serving plate, drizzle with additional yakitori sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro, green onion, sesame seeds and cayenne pepper. Serve immediately with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce.
• In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients.
• Yield: 3/4 cup
• Prep time: 5 minutes

CHICKEN YAKITORI AND RICE

Steps:

• For the chicken yakitori and rice: Soak skewers in water.
• Gather ingredients.
• Place 2 cups chicken stock or broth in a saucepot, bring to boil, then add white rice and a pinch of salt. Cover and reduce heat to low, then cook 15 to 18 minutes to just tender. Fluff and leave pot covered.
• Heat a large cast-iron pan or large nonstick pan over medium-high to high heat with oil, 3 turns of the pan. Meanwhile, to a small pot add soy sauce or tamari, mirin, sake, brown sugar, grated garlic and grated ginger. Bring to a low boil and thicken a couple of minutes, then remove from heat and pour off about a third to serve; add a basting brush to pot with remainder.
• Meanwhile, cut the chicken and scallions into bite-sized pieces. Drain skewers and thread on chicken and scallions, packed firmly.
• Cook skewers in pan 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally and basting with sauce once you turn browned chicken and onions the first time. Reduce heat a bit if pan gets too smoky.
• Serve skewers on or next to white rice with Green Beans alongside.
• Gather ingredients.
• Bring a couple of inches of water to a boil in deep skillet. Cut green beans into thirds.
• Place toasted sesame in bowl of mortar and pestle. Add soy or mirin or sake and sugar. Grind into paste (but some whole sesame seeds are fine), 2 minutes.
• Cook green beans in boiling water about 4 minutes to tender-crisp (add salt to water if you're not using soy). Drain in strainer and run under cool water 1 minute; drain off excess water by leaving in strainer a few minutes.
• Crumble about 4 ounces of the tofu with fingertips. Toss beans with sesame and tofu and serve.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

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.

YAKITORI CHICKEN

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.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• Soak bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes (or use metal skewers).
• While the skewers soak, make the shoyu tare. Combine the sake, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat, then stir in 1 cup soy sauce. Heat until just simmering, about 3 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. The shoyu tare can be stored in a nonreactive glass or metal container in a cool, dry place or the refrigerator for about 3 months.
• Skewer 2 or 3 pieces of chicken and 2 or 3 pieces of onion, alternating, on each skewer. Start with the larger pieces of meat so they end up at the tip, which will cook more quickly. Make sure there are no gaps between the meat and onions, as bamboo skewers will burn in the gaps. Skewer the vegetables and eggs on their own skewers, about 3 or 4 pieces per skewer, depending on the size of the vegetables.
• Heat a bichotan (or charcoal fire) grill, or heat a gas grill to medium-high, or preheat the broiler. Lightly baste the chicken with the oil. Grill the chicken and onions for 3-4 minutes, turning the skewers several times, until the chicken and onions begin to char. Remove the chicken from the heat and baste with the shoyu tare.
• Return the chicken to the heat and cook for 2 more minutes, turning the skewers several times. Remove from heat and baste again. Repeat one more time, until the chicken is cooked through and slightly charred, about 8-10 minutes total. Lay the skewered vegetables and quail eggs on the grill and brush them with oil. Grill the vegetables and eggs, turning them over several times, until the vegetables are soft and charred, 5-8 minutes (the vegetables have different cooking times, so monitor each type for desired doneness). Brush them with the shoyu tare or season them at the table.
• Serve the chicken, eggs, and vegetables with shichimi togarashi, sansho pepper, yuzu kosho, and salt.

YAKITORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Debone the drumsticks, including some of the cartilage. It's important to keep these components very cold. Place the meat along with the soft bone and meat grinder parts into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Progressively grind the meat and soft bone on a 1/8-inch plate. Grind directly into a stainless mixing bowl set on top of an ice bath to keep the mixture cold.
• Add the minced onion, panko, salt and pepper to the meat mixture. Using a gloved hand, incorporate all the ingredients while mixing with vigor. The mixture should become sticky as the naturally occurring niacin is activated from the mixing motion. Immediately chill the mixture in the refrigerator.
• The skewers I use are square, so if the meat is loaded onto the sticks in a centered way, they should sit stable when resting on each side. If the weights are not evenly distributed, they will have a tendency to slip so the heavy side faces down - I tend to use other skewers as supports, so a little bit of over-crowding can work to your benefit.
• Divide the mixture into even 1 3/4-ounce (50g) portions, them form them along each skewer, working the meat lightly in your hands from the point of the skewer downward. Slightly wet your palm while shaping for cleaner results.
• The grill should be prepared high heat on one section, and much cooler on another section. This will allow quick searing as well as slow rendering of fats without flares of flames. Further, binchotan charcoal tends to snuff out when too much rendered fats drop on to it, causing more complications. Having a cooler section allows for a more intentional and thoughtful grilling process!
• Each skewer takes different lengths of time to grill, and how you build the coals into the grill, the atmospheric temperature and direction of wind will all contribute to slowing the cooking process down. During optimal conditions, the skewers should take 2 to 3 minutes tops to cook through, turning as the meat browns.