Yakitori (Grilled Chicken Skewers)

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.

I used boneless chicken thighs and broiled in oven on a foil covered baking sheet. Instead of sake or dry sherry I used shaoxing rice wine because I had it on hand. I served it with rice and green beans with sliced almonds and for dessert a couple of orange slices served with a small square of orange dark chocolate. My husband raved about the chicken. This was a yummy dinner.

The key here is the mirin, not the soy. If you ever want to taste mirin heaven--I'm talking about an entirely different universe--buy this "Mitoku Organic Mikawa Mirin" from naturalimport dot com. One guy in Japan makes this. Unlike anything you've had before.

Double sauce, use scant tamari sauce. Marinade for a few hours. Drain sauce from chicken and boil. Eight chicken thighs, at 350°, bake on one side 30 minutes, turn over for another 20. Baste on chicken when done. Sautéed in garlic some vegetables: green peppers, carrots, bok choy, some onion, water chestnuts. Can sprinkle with cashews or peanuts. Serve over rice.

I made this over the weekend. It was delicious, I added hot sauce to my sauce that I marinated the chicken with. I made extra to drizzle the chicken and my salad.

I used this substitution for the mirin: Add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of sugar to 1/2 cup of white wine, vermouth, or dry sherry to replace 1/2 cup of mirin.

This is a good yakatori recipe.There's a big difference between using tamari and dark soy sauce. Tamari is more concentrated, so I found myself adding more mirin and sugar to get to the magic point where sweet balances salty. Next time I will reduce the tamari by a tablespoon. I haven't tried this with "conventional" soy sauce like Kikkoman, but I suspect it would not need to be reduced to get to the balance point. Used metal skewers on a gas grill.

We dont have a grill so I marinated boneless thighs and roasted them at 400 degrees on a rack placed over a sheet pan, turning them after 15 minutes, basting with the marinating mixture, and broiling for 3-5 minutes. My 10 year old son said it was the best chicken I've ever made, and my 13 year old son ate dinner without attitude, which is enormous praise in and of itself!

Great recipe! I use a lot of ginger - usually a thumb size of ginger. I didn't have time to marinate for longer than 30 minutes, so perhaps that helped reduce some of the saltiness mentioned below. I used boneless chicken thighs on the grill.

Eeek - really really salty. I made this on the pan though, so maybe it'd be different under the broiler or grill?
Tastes wonderful, but I wouldn't let the chicken marinade at all, just a quick toss in the sauce would be enough.
Added zucchinis to the leftover sauce after taking out the chicken, plan on frying eggs in the sauce as well.

I didn't have sake otherwise I followed recipe exactly and it was delicious!

Use breast meat. bake @ 350

11/5/15 Great weeknight meal! I used boneless thighs, and marinated overnight. Served with Summer rolls, Jasmine rice and Chinese Restaurant-Style green beans. I didn't have mirin, and subbed rice wine vinegar.