japanese grilled chicken yakitori skewers
Japanese grilled chicken yakitori skewers are a great way to bring some Asian flair to your next cookout. Simple, clean and absolutely delicious.
Servings: 8
Calories: 174kcal
Ingredients
Yakitori
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs - cut into small bite size pieces (6-8 pieces per thigh)
- 8-10 green onions - white and light green portion only and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 15 or so 6 inch wooden skewers - soaked for 30 minutes prior to grilling
- teriyaki sauce or yakitori tare
Teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch - mixed well with a couple tablespoons water
Instructions
Yakitori
- Skewer a piece of chicken onto a skewer. You may need to pass the skewer though the chicken more than once. You don't want it flapping around when you cook it. Skewer a piece of green onion (see the pictures above).
- Repeat until you have 3-4 pieces of chicken and 2-3 pieces of green onion.
- Once you have skewered all the chicken, sprinkle with a bit of salt.
- Prepare your grill for high direct heat. See the recommendations above for possible ways to set things up to keep the skewers from burning.
- Grill the yakitori, turning regularly until golden and cooked through. Depending on your grill temperature this can take as little as 3-4 minutes.
- Drizzle with teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds (not traditional). Alternately serve simply with salt or with yakitori tare (much more traditional).
Teriyaki sauce
- Combine all ingredients except the cornstarch slurry and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the cornstarch mixture and bring back to a simmer.
- Let simmer for another minute of two and let cool.
- Transfer to a squirt bottle if you have one.
Notes
Yakitori tare is a traditional seasoning for yakitori. It involves roasting chicken bones and making a mirin, soy, sake based stock. It's delicious but it's also work. For a couple other tare recipes check out this restaurant ramen post.
Nutrition
Serving: 8servings | Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 565mg | Potassium: 331mg | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 2.2mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1.3mg