Yakitori Recipe

Tammi Kwok

Sticky, sweet and smoky, Yakitori is a common street food in Japan, sold alongside other favourites like Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki. This is a fantastic way to add a twist to your chicken - you can add shallots or chives to the skewer for a whole different flavour! A perfect reason to fire up that barbecue before summer is out!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Ingredients

500 g Chicken Thighs skin on, cut into 2cm cubes
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
1/4 cup cooking sake
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic smashed
1 stalk spring onion roughly cut into 3cm lengths
Bamboo skewers soaked overnight in water, for threading*

Instructions

1. Place the garlic, spring onion, soy, mirin, cooking sake, water and brown sugar into a small pot and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally until it reduces by half.
2. Meanwhile, heat your grill, or barbecue.
3. Thread the chicken onto the top 1/3 of the skewers, making sure that the pieces are not too tightly bunched together*.
4. Barbecue or grill the chicken until cooked through, turning occasionally. You're looking for it to get a slight char (or smoke if you're cooking over coals) and be completely cooked all the way into the centre.
5. Arrange warm skewers on a platter or plate in a single layer and brush on sticky sauce to serve.

Notes

*Soaking the bamboo skewers will prevent the skewers from burning when you cook the chicken.
**Overcrowding the chicken skewers will cause make it harder to cook the chicken through.
***If you're sensitive to the raw smell of chicken, you can also marinade a the chicken cubes for 10min with a splash of sake before skewering.