About the Recipe
Yakitori is synonymous with the yakitori bar, Japan's favourite after work pub/restaurant. The key to a good yakitori is the sauce and every yakitori bar boasts its own "secret" recipe. Here's a recipe for you to make yakitori at home (or even better, over a barbecue in your garden) - the recipe isn't a secret but I think you'll find it tastes every bit as good as what you would find in a yakitori bar!
Ingredients
8 x 18cm skewers*
300g boneless chicken thigh
3 small leeks**
for the yakitori sauce:
180ml soy sauce
6 tbsp sugar
90ml mirin
1 small chicken skin
1 spring onion, chopped
* I use steel skewers. if you decide to use bamboo skewers, you will need to soak them for 30 minutes in water to prevent them from burning over the barbecue
** Only the white part of the leak is used in this recipe.
Preparation
cut the white part of leek stems into 16 x 2 cm pieces
cut the chicken into 24 bite size pieces
push 3 chicken pieces and 2 leek pieces alternatively onto each skewer
to make the yakitori sauce:
combine the soy sauce, sugar mirin, chopped spring onion and chicken skin in a small saucepan, bring to the boil with a lid on and simmer for 7-8 mins - now it's ready to use
back to the yakitori:
cover a tray with foil, place the yaki-tori on the try and brush with your yakitori sauce
grill on high for 3 mins, then remove the yakitori from the oven, turn over and brush with more sauce ( if barbecuing, simply turn the skewers and brush sauce directly over the yakitori)