Yakitori Party Recipes

YAKITORI (JAPANESE SKEWERED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Add Sauce ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium or medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the quantity by about a third. (Note 6).

YAKITORI (CHICKEN SKEWERS) WITH HOMEMADE YAKITORI SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients.
• Soak about 10 to 12 (5-inch) bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes.

JAPANESE STYLE BARBECUE PARTY: CHICKEN YAKITORI, BEEF WITH GINGER AND SOY, 5 SPICE AND SESAME SEARED AHI

Steps:

• Place water in sauce pan over high heat in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add rice, stir. Cover rice and reduce heat to low. Cook rice 18 minutes or until tender.
• Preheat coals for tabletop hibachi or preheat grill pan over medium high to high heat.
• Combine sherry, sugar, dark soy and oil in a shallow dish. Turn cut chicken and scallions in marinade and let stand 10 minutes. Wash hands.
• Combine ginger and soy, oil and sesame oil in a second shallow dish for the beef. Cut raw meat against the grain in thin strips. Thread strips on to skewers, reserving several skewers for chicken, set into ginger and soy mixture. Season meat lightly with steak seasoning blend and turn in ginger and soy to coat. Set meat aside. Wash hands.
• Toast sesame seeds in a small skillet over moderate heat until they pop and are lightly toasted. This process will develop the flavor of the sesame fully. Combine the sesame seeds with five-spice powder and grill seasoning blend on a piece of wax paper or on a plate. Coat tuna with a scant drizzle of oil and sesame oil to help seeds and spices adhere to fish. Coat fish pieces in sesame and spices.
• Cook chicken pieces and scallions in a single layer over hot coals or on hot grill pan for 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken and scallions to a serving plate and set several bamboo skewers on the edge of the plate for spearing meat and scallions.
• Place beef skewers on hot grill surface and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side in a single layer, turning once. Transfer to a serving plate.
• Cook fish on hot grill surface 1 to 2 minutes on each side and transfer to a serving plate. Tuna will be rare. Serve with several skewers on plate's edge for spearing.
• Transfer pickled watermelon rind, pickled ginger and pickled onions to ramekins and place along side grilled meats and fish for condiments. Serve with hot rice and extra soy sauce for dipping. Kiwis, tangerines and Asian pears are a nice offering of fresh fruit to round out this light menu.

YAKITORI PARTY

Steps:

• Light a charcoal grill or konro to medium-high heat.
• For the tare: Combine the soy sauce, mirin, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, MSG, garlic, onions and ginger in a large stovetop pressure cooker. Lock on the lid and cook over medium-high heat until pressure is reached, then immediately turn off the heat and allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure. Strain the tare and reserve until ready to grill.
• For grilling: Preheat a charcoal grill over medium-high heat.
• Break down the chickens by setting aside the giblets, then cutting off the thighs, oysters, legs, breasts, tenders, skin, tail, wishbone and wings. Cut off the keel bone, soft knee bones, and neck meat if desired. Debone the thigh meat. Cut the thighs and breasts into bite-sized pieces. Cut the skin into strips about 1/2-inch wide.
• Skewer like parts with like parts, using two skewers for wings or large pieces. Skewer the scallions with the chicken parts as well, if desired. It's a party!
• Combine the wasabi powder with 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a small bowl and set aside.
• Brush or sprinkle each skewer with desired flavorings: salt, wasabi-salt mixture, ume furikake or tare, or a combo of all. Again, it's a party!
• Grill the meats over the charcoal until cooked through.
• Season everything with black pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

CHICKEN HEART YAKITORI SKEWERS

Steps:

• For the tare basting sauce: Heat a medium saucepan over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully pour the sake into the pan away from you (it may ignite). Burn off some of the alcohol for about 30 seconds. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, chicken powder, scallions and ginger and bring to the boil for about 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat and evenly divide between 2 tall, heatproof containers like liquid measuring cups. (One will be for quickly marinating and another will be for basting.) Set aside.
• For the yakitori: Skewer the heart halves on each of 20 skewers, alternating every 2 pieces of heart with a scallion piece.
• Put the skewers in one of tare basting sauces while you heat the grill.
• Load a konro grill with hot coals and heat until the coals burn white. Position the grate on top. Alternately, preheat a charcoal grill.
• Remove the skewers from the basting sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the skewers on one side until light brown and slightly crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn over and repeat until the scallions are soft and the hearts are medium, 3 to 5 minutes. Dunk the skewers into the unused tare basting sauce just until the hearts are fully dipped. Drain and place back on the grill for 1 minute on each side. The sauce will caramelize, and the hearts will crisp on the edges.
• Remove from the heat, then sprinkle on some sansho and shichimi and serve hot.

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.