Yakitori
Chicken thigh skewers, charred tare glaze and scallion.
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Brush the tare on the LAST few flips, not the first. Sugar in the glaze burns over high heat - early glaze = black-bitter; late glaze = glossy lacquer.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 1½ lbboneless skinless chicken thighscut into 1-inch chunks
- 6scallionswhite and light green cut into 1-inch segments; dark green sliced thin for garnish
- ½ cupsoy sauce
- ½ cupmirin
- ¼ cupsake
- 3 tbspsugar
- 1 inchfresh gingersmashed
- 2garlic clovessmashed
- 1 tbspneutral oil
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 380calories
- 34gprotein
- 22gcarbs
- 16gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water 20 min (prevents charring).
- Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks. Cut scallion whites into 1-inch segments. Reserve dark-green slices for garnish.
- Thread skewers alternating: chicken, scallion, chicken, scallion, chicken (4-5 chicken pieces per skewer).
Make tare
Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, smashed ginger, smashed garlic in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium 8-10 min until reduced by about a third and syrupy enough to coat a spoon. Discard ginger and garlic.
9 min · hands offHeat grill
Heat grill pan or grill over medium-high. Brush skewers lightly with neutral oil.
3 min · hands onGrill
Grill skewers 2 min per side (4 sides total = 8 min). On the last side, brush generously with tare, then flip, brush again - repeat the glaze 2-3 times so it lacquers without burning. Chicken should be 165°F internal.
8 min · hands onServe
Stack skewers on a platter, drizzle any remaining tare. Shower with sliced scallion greens.
1 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Press tofu 15 min, cube 1-inch, grill 2 min/side glazing each turn.
Thread shishitos whole between chicken chunks - they char into smoky sweet-bitter bites.
Coconut aminos also work; check label - many soy sauces contain wheat. Check label - most sake is GF, but avoid brands with added koji-wheat or brewer's alcohol from wheat. Check label - some mirin-style seasonings contain wheat-derived alcohol.
Press and cube before skewering. Mirin and sake are plant-based; verify no honey or fish-derived additives.
What keeps
Skewer and glaze keep separately for 2 days. Don't pre-grill - yakitori is a charred-edge dish that goes leathery reheated.
Pre-skewer in the morning, grill at dinner.
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