I tried my hand at yakatori tonight. Definitely will do this again, with some tweaks. Yakatori, which means 'grilled bird' in Japanese is a very common street food over in Japan. It basically is chicken skewers, grilled, sometimes with vegetables, and then dunked in a sauce called tare, which is a mixture of sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce.
So, I threaded some flat skewers with chicken, bell pepper, and onion -- some skewers with the vegetables, some without -- seasoned with salt and then grilled. Note the brick paver I use to keep the skewers level and off the grate. I turned every 30-45 seconds or so, moving the skewers around a bit, too.
When they are done (175 F+), baste with tare on both sides. Don't leave them too long as with the mirin and sugar, this sauce will burn quickly. When the sauce is caremelizing, it emits this lovely aroma that reminded me of roasting marshmellows!
The skewers suffered from the usual problems of combining vegetables and meat: the vegetables are done far faster and char far earlier than the meat! I mitigated this a bit by spraying often with sake (a tip I picked up from watching a few yakitori YouTube videos). I think it helped and it did not flare up on the grill at all, much to my surprise. Next time I will do the vegetables and chicken separately. You need the veg....especially the onion...grilled onion is divine.
Also, next time, I will make a homemade tare. I used a store-bought one and while it worked, it was really watered down. All of the homemade tare sauces I see are much thicker are and much more of a glaze. And they are very easy to make....as it is just sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce.
Here's my wife's plate..... (white rice).....
And mine, more meat and brown rice.
Definitely will do again. It's quick, it's fun, and the tare sauce gives this lovely umami-sweetness that is remarkable.
So, I threaded some flat skewers with chicken, bell pepper, and onion -- some skewers with the vegetables, some without -- seasoned with salt and then grilled. Note the brick paver I use to keep the skewers level and off the grate. I turned every 30-45 seconds or so, moving the skewers around a bit, too.
When they are done (175 F+), baste with tare on both sides. Don't leave them too long as with the mirin and sugar, this sauce will burn quickly. When the sauce is caremelizing, it emits this lovely aroma that reminded me of roasting marshmellows!
The skewers suffered from the usual problems of combining vegetables and meat: the vegetables are done far faster and char far earlier than the meat! I mitigated this a bit by spraying often with sake (a tip I picked up from watching a few yakitori YouTube videos). I think it helped and it did not flare up on the grill at all, much to my surprise. Next time I will do the vegetables and chicken separately. You need the veg....especially the onion...grilled onion is divine.
Also, next time, I will make a homemade tare. I used a store-bought one and while it worked, it was really watered down. All of the homemade tare sauces I see are much thicker are and much more of a glaze. And they are very easy to make....as it is just sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce.
Here's my wife's plate..... (white rice).....
And mine, more meat and brown rice.
Definitely will do again. It's quick, it's fun, and the tare sauce gives this lovely umami-sweetness that is remarkable.
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