Yakitori (Grilled Chicken Skewers)
Updated May 25, 2022
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound chicken livers, gizzards or boneless thigh meat
½ cup dark soy sauce or tamari
¼ cup mirin
2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving
5 grams carbs; 48 milligrams cholesterol; 140 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 4 grams fat; 1229 milligrams sodium; 18 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Cut chicken into one-inch pieces and place in a shallow dish.
- Step 2
In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce or tamari, mirin, sake or sherry, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes, until thickened. Reserve 2 tablespoons sauce for serving. Pour remaining sauce over chicken, cover, and chill for at least one hour (and up to 4 hours).
- Step 3
If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for one hour. Preheat grill or broiler. Thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and grill or broil, turning halfway, for about 3 minutes for livers, 10 minutes for gizzards and 6 minutes for thighs. Serve drizzled with reserved sauce and garnished with scallions.
Private Notes
Comments
To make a one-dish, veggie-full meal without the fuss of grilling, simmer chunks of boneless chicken breast or boneless thighs in the mixture described in the recipe. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Add a cup of chicken broth to the pan and simmer chopped bak choy, plus more ginger and garlic, until crisp-tender. Serve over rice. Add sliced jalapenos if you like more heat.
This is a favorite. I use less mirin, more ginger and add a touch of rice wine vinegar for added sharpness. I've also tried it with a touch of dark sesame oil and sprinkled sesame seeds and cilantro on top. Probably not authentic "Yakitori", but delicious nonetheless .
How can this possibly be prepared in 15 minutes? An hour to marinate, several minutes to thread meat onto skewers, plus 13 minutes of actual cook time for thighs--let's be honest.
After reading the comments, I tried it with regular soy sauce instead of tamari, and it was still very, very salty. I also used seitan instead of pork, but it’s hard to imagine that that caused the saltiness. Next time I’ll reduce the amount of soy sauce and increase the brown sugar, ginger, and garlic a bit. Otherwise, it was tasty. I’m going to mince the leftovers and use them to fill some onigiri to cut the saltiness.
Following the directions exactly, we compared the marinade in this recipe with marinade in the NYT recipe "Grilled Tofu" (making chicken and tofu because we were having a vegetarian dinner guest). The Grilled Tofu marinade was much more very tasty and flavorful, so we used that instead to positive reviews. Gave 2 stars to this recipe because it's mediocre and we will not make it again.
Made using tamari and shaoxing wine since it's what I had and turned out great just as written!