Chicken yakitori is a Japanese dish made with chicken meat or chicken offal which is threaded on to bamboo skewers and grilled.
Order a chicken yakitori recipe in a restaurant in Japan and you will be asked whether you want it done with salt or with tare sauce (a sake, soy sauce, sugar and mirin condiment) and this will go on the chicken before cooking.
Chicken Yakitori Recipe: A Traditional Japanese Flavor
The following chicken yakitori recipe is very simple to make and you will love the flavor of it. The chicken is flavored with mirin, soy sauce, sugar, garlic and green onion, then grilled until done.
While any part of the chicken can be used to make yakitori in Japan, like the breast, thighs, giblets or liver, I like to use chicken thighs because they are tasty and moist.
Some people like to use green onion and thread it between each piece of chicken, and that makes the chicken yakitori recipe look extra yummy and also adds to the flavor, offering a nice contrast with the sweet flavor of the meat.
Cook this chicken yakitori recipe on the grill or broil them if you prefer. Serve the finished chicken yakitori on a bed of rice if you want them to be a main dish, or alone if they are to be an appetizer.
If you don’t have mirin you can use sake but add a pinch of sugar to make up for the flavor. Because these skewers offer sweetness they will appeal to the kids as much as the grownups. They are so delicious and you will want to make these often. Try this Japanese sukiyaki recipe as well if you like.
PrintChicken Yakitori Recipe
These chicken skewers are full of flavor and they make the most delicious appetizer. The recipe includes green onion, soy sauce and mirin for a fabulous flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450g) boneless chicken thighs
- 1 or 2 green onions (spring onions), in 1-inch (2.5cm) slices (optional)
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) mirin
- 8 bamboo skewers
Instructions
- Simmer the soy sauce, sugar, mirin and garlic in a pan until decreased by half.
- Let it cool for a while while you work on the chicken.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- In Japan they keep the skin on but remove it if you prefer.
- Thread the chicken on to the skewers, alternating them with green onion if you like.
- Grill the chicken skewers on both sides without the sauce.
- When the meat begins to change color, brush the sauce on to both sides and keep grilling, brushing on the sauce about 3 times in total, and turning until the chicken is completely cooked through.