Yakitori Chicken
"Yakitori" is a term used in Japan to describe skewering and grilling chicken. The chicken is usually made with a marinade that has some combination of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake.
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, skinless and sliced thilny
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 2 tablespoons sake or 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons grated or pureed ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- sesame seeds, ,for topping
Instructions
- Optional (but recommended): Slice chicken into thin pieces- I slice them in half lengthwise so they are quite thin. Set aside in a deep dish or a plastic bag (you'll pour the marinade on it later).
- In a small sauce pan, add soy sauce, mirin, sake/honey, ginger, and garlic. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low and cook until a bit thicker, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.
- Set aside a small portion of the marinade (about 1/4 of the total marinade) in a separate container. Pour the remaining 3/4 portion of the marinade over chicken. Rest for at least 1 hour, up to 6 hours, in fridge.
- Grill the chicken. Grill on each side until the chicken is white in the center and registers 165 degrees (about 4 minutes each side, depending on how hot the grill is). Before taking it off the heat, brush or spoon on remaining marinade.
- GRILL ALTERNATIVES: Not all of us are so lucky to have a grill. Alternatively, you can pan-fry it (which technically violates the basis of what "yakitori" means, but it still tastes good). To pan-fry the chicken, heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat, add some oil to coat the pan, and cook chicken until it is white in the center (about 3-4 minutes each side) Before taking it off the heat, put remaining marinade on the chicken with a brush (alternatively you could spoon the marinade on).
- Right before serving, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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