Yakitori-fu chikin / yakitori barbecue style grilled chicken

Yakitori grilled over charcoal from a smoky kitchen is superb – the smoke, not so nice. Here is a leisurely cooking option in a regular oven so you can enjoy yakitori style grilled chicken without fumigating yourself.

<Ingredients>

2 (350-400 g) chicken thighs

For tare sauce
3 tbsp sake
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce


<Directions>
1.

Soak bamboo skewers in water.

2.

Skin and debone chicken, remove any obvious fat, and cut into 3cm pieces. (Save bones for sauce.)

Mix sake, mirin and soy sauce, and marinate chicken in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3.
Preheat oven to 480 F/250 C.

4.

Put chicken on skewers.

5.

Heat up marinade, put bones and simmer on medium low to low heat.

6.

Grill chicken with foil cover for 10 minutes.

Remove foil, and grill chicken until surface browns with a few slightly burned edges.
Flip, and cook the other side.

Remove chicken from oven, dip chicken in sauce, and grill for a few minutes.

Repeat 3-4 more times, changing sides each time for even cooking results.

Serve with sansho powder (optional).

<Notes>

• This sauce is mild. For sweeter flavor, use equal parts sake, mirin and soy sauce. Honey and sugar (as additions or to replace mirin) are other common ingredients for home kitchens.
• Cooking bones makes the sauce milder and deeper. Skin can be used instead of bones for the same effect.
• If you cook this type of dish regularly, save the remaining sauce and keep adding it to the next sauce you make for extra flavor.
• Using the temperature above, it would takes 30+ minutes after putting chicken in oven – enough time to prepare something else.
• You can also saute chicken in a frying pan, or saute it halfway through and grill. A barbecue grill outdoors, of course, is also an option.