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skewerEasyJapanese
Yakitori
Japanese grilled chicken skewers glazed with sweet-savory tare sauce - the izakaya essential.
⏱️ Prep: 20min🍳 Cook: 15min⏰ Total: 35min👥 Serves: 12🌡️ hot
✓ dairy-free
⚠️ Contains: 🌾 Gluten, 🫘 Soy
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbboneless chicken thighs(cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 6 wholescallions(cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 1/2 cupsoy sauce
- 1/2 cupmirin
- 1/4 cupsake
- 3 tbspsugar
- 2 clovesgarlic(smashed)
- 1 inchfresh ginger(sliced)
- 1 tspshichimi togarashi(for serving)
📝 Make Ahead
Tare sauce keeps refrigerated for months and improves with age. Marinate chicken up to 4 hours ahead.
Instructions
- Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes
- Make tare: simmer soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, garlic, and ginger for 15 minutes until slightly thickened, strain
- Thread chicken and scallion pieces alternating on skewers
- Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high
- Grill skewers 3-4 minutes per side, brushing with tare every minute
- Continue grilling and basting until chicken is cooked and glazed, about 10-12 minutes total
- Serve hot with extra tare for dipping and shichimi togarashi for sprinkling
💡 Pro Tips
Use chicken thighs for juicier results. Brush with tare multiple times during grilling for a lacquered finish.
📜 History
Yakitori has been a Japanese street food since the Meiji era. The word means grilled chicken, and the best versions are cooked over binchotan charcoal.
Also pairs well with:
sakejapanese-whiskybeer