Yakitori

Yakitori — skewered chicken grilled over binchotan charcoal — is the quintessential Japanese izakaya (gastropub) food, eaten standing at smoky street stalls or hunched over a counter while sipping cold beer or chilled sake. Every part of the chicken is used: thigh meat basted in sweet tare sauce, crispy chicken skin, tender breast with spring onion, and more adventurous offal cuts. This recipe focuses on the classic momo (thigh) and negi-ma (thigh with leek) variations with a homemade tare that develops over many batches.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Tare sauce:

• 120ml (1/2 cup) soy sauce
• 60ml (1/4 cup) mirin
• 60ml (1/4 cup) sake
• 1 tbsp sugar

Skewers:

• 600g (1.3 lb) boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, cut into 3cm (1.2-inch) pieces
• 4 spring onions (scallions), white and light green parts, cut into 3cm lengths
• Salt (for shio yakitori)
• 16 bamboo skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes

Instructions

1. Make tare: combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve sugar, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool.
2. Thread chicken pieces onto half the skewers (4–5 pieces each). Thread alternating chicken and spring onion pieces onto the remaining skewers (negi-ma style).
3. Grill over high heat (charcoal ideal, gas or grill pan acceptable) for 2–3 minutes per side until cooked through with good colour.
4. For tare yakitori: brush with tare sauce, grill 30 seconds more per side. Repeat for a second coat.
5. For shio yakitori: sprinkle lightly with flaky salt just before serving instead of tare.

Cook's Notes: The tare improves with repeated use — pour it back into a jar and refrigerate; top up with fresh soy sauce, mirin, and sake over time. The fat that drips from the chicken enriches it beautifully. Keep skewers away from direct flame to prevent burning.