Yakitori Recipe 焼き鳥
Juicy and flavorful grilled chicken skewers with scallions glazed in a sweet-savory Japanese tare sauce, perfect for recreating authentic izakaya flavors at home!
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 small saucepan
- 1 wire rack
- 10-12 skewers gun skewers or bamboo
Ingredients
For the Yakitori Sauce
- ½ cup soy sauce use gluten-free soy sauce for GF
- ½ cup mirin
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar packed and leveled off
For the Chicken Skewers
- 2 Tokyo negi or 9 green onions
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs at room temperature
- neutral oil for brushing the wire rack
- shichimi togarashi optional; for a spicy kick
Instructions
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Soak 10–12 5-inch bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes (or at least 10 minutes while prepping).
- Separate the green part of the Tokyo negi from the white and light green parts. Cut the white and light green parts into 1¼-inch pieces. Cut the green parts in half crosswise.
- To make the Yakitori Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, water, brown sugar, and green onion parts. Bring to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes until reduced to one-third volume. Let cool.
- Cut chicken thighs into 1¼-inch squares. Fold each piece and skewer alternately with green onion pieces. Each skewer gets about 3 chicken pieces and 2 Tokyo negi pieces.
- For broiling: Line a baking sheet with foil, place a greased wire rack on top. Lay out skewers, broil on High (550°F) for 6 minutes.
- Brush skewers with sauce, flip, brush the other side, and broil for another 3–4 minutes. Flip again, baste, and broil for 1–2 minutes more.
- To serve: Transfer to plate, optionally baste with fresh sauce on top. Serve with shichimi togarashi if desired.
Notes
Serve warm with optional shichimi togarashi. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge up to 3 days or frozen up to a month.