Easy yakitori with tare (sauce)
Cubes of chicken fillet are skewered alternatingly with scallions and grilled while brushing with a sweet-salty sauce throughout the cooking. Yakitori is traditionally a snack or “cocktail food” but we like it with rice.
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- 8 to 12 bamboo skewers soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes
Ingredients
Tare
- ½ cup soy sauce (I used Kikkoman)
- ½ cup sake
- ½ cup mirin
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
Skewers
- 500 grams chicken thigh fillets (1.1 pounds) remove the skin if you like; I didn’t
- 8 stalks scallions (white and light green portions only) cut into two-inch lengths
Garnish (optional)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- finely sliced scallions
Instructions
- Stir all the ingredients for the tare in a small pan. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, until reduced by half. It will take about 20 minutes.
- While the tare reduces, soak the bamboo skewers in water (so they don’t catch fire on the grill).
- Pat the chicken fillets dry with paper towels and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Start heating up the grill (I used a stovetop grill; a charcoal grill will give the chicken even better flavor).
- Thread the chicken with the bamboo skewers, about three to four pieces per skewer, with a piece of scallion between each piece.
- Lay the skewered chicken and scallions on the hot grill. Do not move for a minute to allow the underside to brown. Flip then brown the other side.
- Flip the skewered chicken and scallions and start brushing the tops and sides with the tare.
- Flip the skewered chicken and scallions every minute or two, brushing the tops and sides with tare with every flip.
- Repeat the flipping and brushing three to four times until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
- Optionally sprinkle the yakitori with sesame seeds before serving.