Japanese Chicken Water Chestnut And Scallion Yakitori Recipes

EASY CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• Soak 10 wooden skewers in cold water for 15 minutes.
• Thread chicken pieces onto the soaked skewers, alternating with scallions.
• Combine sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 of the sauce for dipping.
• Heat a grill pan over high heat and lightly brush with vegetable oil. Add skewers and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center, basting frequently with 1/2 of the sauce, 7 to 10 minutes per side.

JAPANESE CHICKEN, WATER CHESTNUT, AND SCALLION YAKITORI

Steps:

• Make the marinade:
• In a saucepan whisk together the soy sauce, the Sherry, the sugar, the gingerroot, the garlic, the salt, and pepper to taste and bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved, and let the marinade cool.
• On each skewer alternate 3 pieces of chicken with 2 scallion lengths and 2 water chestnuts, skewering the water chestnuts carefully so that they do not split and beginning and ending with the chicken. In a large shallow baking dish arrange the kebabs in one layer, pour the marinade over them, and let the chicken marinate, covered and chilled, turning the kebabs once, for 30 minutes. Arrange the kebabs, reserving the marinade, in one layer on an oiled rack of a broiler pan and broil them under a preheated broiler about 4 inches from the heat, basting them with the marinade for the first 6 minutes, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Discard any remaining marinade.

CHICKEN YAKITORI WITH SCALLIONS (TRADITIONAL STYLE JAPANESE KEBABS)

Steps:

• To make the teriyaki sauce, heat the rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and scallions to boiling over medium heat. Let cook for 7 minutes, then whisk in cornstarch slurry and cook for another 3 minutes or so, to allow to thicken. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Arrange the chicken cubes in a shallow nonreactive container such as a glass baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and rub into the chicken. Pour the sake over the chicken and then pour in the teriyaki sauce. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Begin soaking about 12 bamboo skewers in water so they won't burn on the grill.
• Heat the grill and thread alternate pieces of chicken and leeks on the skewers. Each skewer should have approximately 3 pieces of chicken, and each serving will consist of 3 skewers. Grill over indirect heat until the chicken is tender but not dry, about 5 to 10 minutes.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; set aside half the mixture for serving., Thread peppers onto 2 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Thread chicken onto 6 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat until meat is cooked through, 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally and basting frequently with soy sauce mixture during the last 3 minutes. Grill peppers, covered, until tender, 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. Grill onions, covered, until lightly charred, 1-2 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve chicken and vegetables with reserved sauce for dipping.

NEGIMA (GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS WITH GREEN ONION)

Steps:

• Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the tare. In a broiler or on a grill, cook the chicken wings until they are charred over about half their surfaces. In a medium pot, bring the sake and mirin to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the sugar, and cook until the sugar is dissolved, stirring. Add the shoyu and chicken wings, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, until the sauce is slightly thickened and glossy. Strain the sauce through a strainer lined with cotton cloth-chicken wings can be eaten as a cook's treat or saved for another purpose. Let the sauce cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for as long as a month. Reheat the tare before using it, and once every week between uses.
• Cut the chicken thigh and breast into small pieces, about 1 by 1¼ inches. Cut the white part of each green onion into 1¼-inch lengths. Thread two pieces of chicken thigh or breasts and three pieces of long onion or leek alternately on each skewer. When using chicken with skin, folding the edges of the skin, and tuck them between the chicken meat and the long onion or leek to prevent the skin from burning.
• Heat a grill or broiler until hot. Cook the skewered chicken and green onion for 4 minutes, turning the skewers several times. Remove the chicken from the heat, and, with a pastry brush, baste it with tare.
• Return the chicken to the heat, and cook for 2 minutes, turning the skewers several times. Remove the chicken from the heat, and baste again.
• Return the chicken to the heat, and cook it for 2 minutes, turning it. Remove the chicken from the heat, baste it once more, and serve it hot.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• To prepare the tukedare, combine the soy sauce, sake, water, ginger juice, sesame oil, lemon juice, kombu, and sugar in a saucepot over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat and simmer until the kombu becomes soft, about 20 minutes. Strain the sauce into a narrow container and mix in the ichimi togarashi. Set aside.
• To prepare the yakitori, remove the wings from the chicken. Butterfly the middle piece (which has 2 bones), keeping the bone and skin. Thread 2 skewers through both pieces to hold them together, with the skin side down. Set aside.
• Next, remove the skin from the remaining chicken and set aside. Remove the bones from the chicken breast, legs, and thighs and cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Now you're ready to skewer. The trick here is to alternate different combinations of meat and vegetables-have fun with it! To start, thread 3 pieces of dark meat onto a skewer, alternating with some onion and shiitake mushrooms. Be sure to leave at least 1 inch of the skewer uncovered. Now repeat with the chicken breast cubes, this time alternately skewering with scallions and shiitake mushrooms. Next, try a combination with bell peppers. Repeat until all the skewers are prepared. Finally, don't forget to skewer the chicken skin and chicken liver, both traditional delicacies in Japan. But with these two, do not add any vegetables (so the skin and liver can cook uniformly).
• Heat a barbecue grill or stove-top grill pan over medium heat. Set several skewers of chicken and vegetables and the skin on the grill so the uncovered parts of the skewers hang over the edge. Flip the yakitori after 2 minutes, then cook 1 minute longer on the other side to sear evenly. Remove and dip the yakitori into tukedare to lightly coat (you can also use a pastry brush for this step). Now you're ready to slowly caramelize the sauce and cook the chicken, using the following technique: Return the skewers to the grill and cook for 1 minute. Remove and again dip into the tukedare. Return to the grill, turning the skewer to cook the other side for another minute. Repeat these steps until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Remember to grill over lower heat than we typically use to barbecue in America, and grill patiently and slowly. You'll turn and dip the skewers at least four times.
• Lightly salt the reserved chicken wings and liver pieces and follow the slow turning technique described above-but do not dip them into the tukedare. In Japan, yakitori wings are traditionally grilled only with a salt coating, not with sauce.
• Line up the grilled yakitori on a platter and serve.

YAKITORI (JAPANESE CHICKEN SKEWERS)

Steps:

• Marinade: Smash and peel garlic cloves, then place in a small saucepan. Slice unpeeled ginger into coins (about 5 slices); add to the saucepan, followed by the mirin, soy sauce, and honey. Over medium-high heat, bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent honey from burning; allow to simmer for about 1 minute. Set aside to cool by placing into a large skillet filled with cold water.
• Trim root ends from scallions; then cut the white and light green parts into 1-inch pieces. (Reserve green stalks for garnish.) Set aside. Slice each chicken thigh into 4 equal pieces. If using skewers, thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, alternating with pieces of scallion.
• Place skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and pour marinade to coat chicken and scallions. Marinate for at least 30 minutes (and up to 3-4 hours), flipping the skewers in the marinade every 5-7 minutes. (Note: Chicken can be marinated the day before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.) While chicken marinates, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat grill pan over high heat, 5-10 minutes (time will vary, depending on pan). Reserving the marinade, place chicken skewers on the hot grill and cook for 2-3 minutes; place a heavy plate or skillet on the chicken and press down to create grill marks. Flip skewers and repeat, 2-3 more minutes. Place the chicken, still in the grill pan, in the oven and bake, 10 minutes. Meanwhile, finish the sauce.
• Pour the marinade back into a saucepan and add the miso. Bring to a boil (which will kill off any bacteria from the raw chicken) and reduce slightly, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove grill pan from oven and transfer skewers to a plate. When the sauce has reduced, brush it over the chicken. Slice reserved scallion greens and sprinkle over the skewers before serving.