Yakitori with Tare Glaze

Name: Yakitori with Tare Glaze
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 120 ml (½ cup) soy sauce; 120 ml (½ cup) mirin; 60 ml (¼ cup) sake, or dry sherry; 2 tbsp sugar; 1 scallion, green part; 10 g (½ in piece) fresh ginger, sliced; 800 g (1¾ lb) boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, cut in 3 cm (1¼ in) pieces; 8 scallions, white and pale green parts, cut in 3 cm lengths; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tbsp neutral oil; shichimi togarashi, to serve (optional)

Chicken thigh and scallion skewers with a glossy soy-mirin glaze

Makes: 12 skewers
Hands-on: 30 min
Total: 1 h
Level: Some skill

Yakitori is Japanese grilled chicken on skewers, cooked over hot coals and brushed several times with tare, a thick, sweet-salty glaze of soy, mirin and sake. Thigh meat stays juicy, and the scallion (negima style) chars sweetly between the pieces.

Ingredients

Tare

120 mlsoy sauce (½ cup)
120 mlmirin (½ cup)
60 mlsake (¼ cup)or dry sherry
2 tbspsugar
1scalliongreen part
10 gfresh ginger (½ in piece)sliced

Skewers

800 gboneless, skin-on chicken thighs (1¾ lb)cut in 3 cm (1¼ in) pieces
8scallionswhite and pale green parts, cut in 3 cm lengths
1 tspfine sea salt
1 tbspneutral oil
shichimi togarashito serve (optional)

Diet: Dairy-free
Allergens: soy, gluten, sulphites
Origin: Japan
Season: Summer

Method

Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. 30 min
Simmer the tare ingredients in a small pan until reduced by about a third and syrupy, 12–15 minutes. Strain and cool; it thickens as it cools. Pour a little into a separate bowl for brushing so the rest stays clean. 14 min
Thread the chicken and scallion pieces alternately onto the skewers, pushing them snugly together. Season lightly with salt.
Set up the grill for direct high heat. For the best result, arrange two bricks or rows of foil on the grate to rest the skewer ends on, so the meat hangs just over the coals and the exposed wood does not burn.
Brush the skewers with oil and grill, turning every minute or so, until lightly charred, 6 minutes. 6 min
Brush with tare and grill 30 seconds per side; repeat 3 times, until glossy, sticky and lightly caramelized, and the chicken reads 74°C (165°F), 3–4 minutes more. 4 min
Serve with a final brush of tare and a pinch of shichimi.

Why it works

Mirin and sugar caramelize quickly, so the tare goes on only at the end, in thin layers that build a lacquer rather than a burnt crust. Thighs have enough fat and collagen to stay juicy at high heat. Keeping the pieces small and even means they cook through by the time the outside is glazed.

Common mistakes

Brushing tare on from the start: it burns before the chicken cooks.
Uneven pieces: some burn, others stay raw. Cut them the same size.

Variations

Shio (salt) yakitori: Skip the tare; season well with salt and serve with lemon.
Tsukune: Mix 500 g ground chicken with 1 egg, 1 tbsp cornstarch, grated ginger and chopped scallion; shape around skewers and grill, glazing with tare.

Make ahead and storage

The tare keeps 1 month in the fridge.

Notes

Grill-pan/oven fallback: cook under a very hot oven grill (broiler) on a rack, 8 cm from the element, turning every 2 minutes and glazing in the final minutes; or in a hot ridged grill pan. Sake and mirin contain alcohol; simmering the tare drives off some of it, but not all.