Yakitori
Yakitori
Yakitori is Japanese grilled chicken on skewers, one of the defining dishes of izakaya culture and a beloved fixture of the Japanese street food scene. The word covers a wide range of skewered preparations: negima alternates pieces of chicken thigh with spring onion; tsukune are minced chicken meatballs with a slightly springy texture; momo is simple thigh meat; kawa is crispy grilled skin; and various offal cuts, hearts, liver, gizzard, are ordered by those who appreciate the deeper, more mineral flavours they offer. Each is grilled over charcoal, binchōtan white charcoal is the traditional standard, and seasoned either with salt (shio) for pure, clean flavour or with a rich tare sauce for a sweeter, more complex result.
Cooking yakitori at home requires either a proper yakitori grill, a narrow, rectangular charcoal grill designed to hold skewers at the perfect height above the heat, or a well-controlled gas grill or oven broiler as a practical alternative. The authentic charcoal version is worth pursuing if you have the space and inclination: the smoky, caramelised character that binchōtan imparts to grilled chicken cannot be fully replicated with gas. Compact countertop yakitori grills designed for domestic use are available in this collection and work well with standard Japanese charcoal.
The skewers themselves matter too. Flat bamboo skewers are preferred over round ones because they prevent the ingredients from rotating when turned, which allows more precise control over the cooking surface. Metal skewers are an alternative for reusable setups and conduct heat through the meat, which slightly speeds the cooking time.
Yakitori tare sauce, the sweet, reduced soy glaze, builds in complexity each time new skewers are dipped into it, which is why yakitori restaurants maintain their tare pots for years.
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Use our tongs and tweezers for handling the skewers, and explore our burners for tabletop grilling.
Yakitori at home: how to grill perfect Japanese chicken skewers, cuts, tare sauce and the grill setup.
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