Yakitori
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 lbs boned chicken leg or thigh meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 washed & halved chicken livers (or chicken gizzards or rolled pieces of skin)
- 8 small chicken wings (salt grill only)
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 or 2 large Japanese leeks (naganegi), white part only (or white onions), cut into 1-inch pieces
Yakitori Sauce:
- 3/4 cup mirin (sweet rice sake)
- 2 tbsps rock sugar, or 1 tbsp white sugar
- 3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 or 2 roasted or grilled chicken bones, optional
Garnish:
- Ground Japanese pepper (sansho)
- Seven-spice pepper mixture (shichimitogarashi)
- Lemon wedges for salted skewers
Instructions
- Put the mirin and sugar in a saucepan and warm, stirring well, over medium heat until the sugar melts. Add the soy sauce and chicken bones (if used), and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for about twenty minutes. The sauce should reduce about 30 percent, and be thick but still pourable. Strain it and cool to room temperature. Since the cooking time for each ingredient varies, each should be threaded on separate skewers – 8- or 10-inch bamboo skewers or short steel shish-kebab ones – except for chicken pieces alternated with leeks, a traditional combination. Four pieces per skewer is best. Prepare a barbecue, grill, or broiler. For best results, use charcoal. Grill the skewers, unseasoned at first, turning every few minutes until the ingredients start to brown and the juices begin to trickle out. At this point, either salt both sides of each skewer or dip it into the sauce. Grill for a few more minutes, turning occasionally, then remove the salted skewers for immediate consumption; dip the other skewers into the sauce again and grill them twice more, the second time returning them to the fire only briefly. Serve the sauced skewers with garnishes and the salted ones with lemon wedges.