{"id":28352,"title":"Yakitori – Japanese chicken skewers","modified":"2025-07-25T11:35:36+02:00","plain":"In Japan, yakitori (\u713c\u304d\u9ce5) are often consumed as a snack, during matsuri in Japan or in yakitori restaurants (yakitori-ya) with alcoholic beverages. Yakitori chicken is truly a classic of Japanese cuisine. \n\n\n\nWhy not accompany the skewers with beef yaki udon?\n\n\n\nIt's not uncommon to see several establishments of this type grouped together on the same street, side by side. There are also entire amusement parks dedicated to yakitori in Japan, proof of the popularity of this dish. \n\n\n\nThe different types of yakitori\n\n\n\nJust like sushi, yakitori in Japan is taken very seriously and there are specific names for each combination of ingredients on the skewers. \n\n\n\nIn specialized restaurants, chefs go as far as obtaining special breeds of chicken from specific regions known for their unique texture and flavors. Various methods of cutting, skewering, and grilling are applied. And customers have a choice among an amazing selection - ranging from breasts, thighs, cartilage, wings, skins, fillets, livers to gizzards.  \n\n\n\n\nChicken thighs (momo, \u3082\u3082)\n\n\n\nChicken breast (mune, \u3080\u306d)\n\n\n\nChicken thighs and green onion (negima, \u306d\u304e\u307e)\n\n\n\nChicken tenderloin (sasami, \u3055\u3055\u307f)\n\n\n\nChicken skin (kawa, \u76ae)\n\n\n\nChicken wings (tebasaki, \u624b\u7fbd\u5148)\n\n\n\nChicken tail (bonjiri, \u307c\u3093\u3058\u308a)\n\n\n\nChicken cartilage (nankotsu, \u8edf\u9aa8)\n\n\n\nChicken heart (hatsu, \u30cf\u30c4)\n\n\n\nChicken liver (reb\u0101, \u30ec\u30d0\u30fc)\n\n\n\nChicken gizzard (sunagimo, \u7802\u809d)\n\n\n\n\nTsukune are a type of yakitori\n\n\n\nTips for yakitori skewers\n\n\n\nI know that the steps where you need to turn and cover might seem redundant, but trust me, to get quality chicken skewers, these are essential steps. \n\n\n\nUltimately, you can play with the thickness of the sauce to get nice thick glazes as needed. It will come with practice, don't worry, even I clearly don't make them often enough to say I get a perfect result. By the way, I recently released an authentic recipe for yakitori sauce, I recommend trying that one for this recipe  \n\n\n\nIn the same vein, teriyaki skewers are very popular or even Vietnamese chicken skewers for a change from Japanese\n\n\n\nAs usual, the chicken cut of choice is boneless chicken thigh because it not only provides a juicier result but also greater tolerance to overcooking (since there's more juice inside)\n\n\n\nAnother Japanese chicken recipe that I highly recommend is karaage chicken and come here to discover all the secrets of rice vinegar\n\n\n\nKaraage, another famous Japanese chicken dish\n\n\n\nThe ingredients for yakitori\n\n\n\nDark soy sauce: Contrasts with light soy sauce and is found nowadays, either online or in Asian supermarkets. Brings a certain depth and nuance to the dishes in which it is used \n\n\n\nRice vinegar: Classic white rice vinegar used throughout Asian cuisine. You can find it here on Amazon. But honestly, with the popularity of sushi, it's not uncommon to find it in supermarkets these days.  \n\n\n\nMirin: delicious Japanese condiment, it's a very sweet sake which, unsurprisingly, brings a nuanced sweet taste to the dish in which it is used\n\n\n\nThe cornstarch or cornflour: On one hand, it provides an incredible texture for the meat, and on the other, it thickens the sauce to achieve that syrupy consistency we love\n\n\n\nHow to make yakitori chicken skewers?\n\n\n\nYou can also try the yakitori beef and cheese skewers\n\n\n\nWe start by heating the sauces along with the aromatics, which will begin to thicken thanks to the use of cornstarch in the latter.\n\n\n\nWe set aside a few spoonfuls to brush the chicken once before putting them on skewer sticks, alternating with spring onions. Salt, pepper, and then we put it all on the heat!  \n\n\n\nFrom there, we'll alternate between cooking and brushing to achieve a beautiful glazing of the skewers worthy of the best Japanese restaurants. The white sesame seed garnish will really give a \"pro\" look to the final result \n\n\n\n\n\n\tYakitori - Japanese chicken skewers\n\t\t\n\t\tA simple and delicious recipe for Japanese chicken skewers (yakitori)\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tSAUCE40 g dark soy sauce  30 g water0.5 tablespoon   of mirin  0.5 tablespoon   rice vinegar  30 g brown sugar0.5 teaspoon   minced ginger1 clove of minced garlic1.5 teaspoon   cornstarchOTHERS250 g of diced chicken4 wooden skewers3 Green onion stems cut into 1-2 cm pieces1 pinch of salt1 pinch of pepper\t\n\t\n\t\tIn a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together the sauceBring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.Transfer a few tablespoons of sauce to a bowl to use for brushing the chicken.Thread pieces of chicken onto the skewers, alternating with green onion piecesLightly oil the skewers, season with salt and pepperPreheat a large skillet over medium-high heat (or ideally a grill)Add the skewers and let cook for 4 minutes. Turn and brush the cooked side with the sauce. Cook for another 4 minutes.  Turn the skewer, brush with sauce, cook for 2 minutes and coverTurn the skewer, brush with sauce, cook for 2 minutes and coverRepeat turning, basting, and covered cooking 2 more times, for a total cooking time of 16 minutes.Sprinkle the yakitori with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with rice. \t\n\t\n\t\tAs usual, the chicken cut of choice is boneless chicken thigh because it not only provides a juicier result but also greater tolerance to overcooking (since there's more juice inside)\n\t\n\t\n\t\tAppetizers, Main courseJapaneseMa\u00efzena, Poulet, Sauce soja dark, Vinaigre de riz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47895,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352\/revisions\/47895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}