Chicken Yakitori Skewers

Tender pieces of chicken thigh and spring onion, threaded onto skewers and grilled until charred at the edges, then lacquered in a sticky soy-mirin tare. This is proper izakaya-style yakitori you can make under a hot grill at home, ready in well under an hour.

Yakitori is the heart of the Japanese izakaya: bite-sized chicken threaded onto skewers, grilled hard, and brushed with a glossy tare sauce that caramelises into something irresistible. Thigh meat stays juicy where breast dries out, and the trick is building layers of glaze as they cook. No barbecue needed - a hot grill does the job beautifully.

Ingredients

• 600g boneless, skinless chicken thighs — cut into 3cm pieces
• 6 spring onions — white and pale green parts, cut into 3cm lengths
• 100ml light soy sauce — Japanese/Kikkoman style
• 100ml mirin — Japanese sweet rice wine
• 50ml sake — or dry sherry
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 garlic clove — lightly crushed, skin on
• 1 tsp fresh ginger — sliced
• 1 tbsp neutral oil — for brushing
• 1 tsp shichimi togarashi — Japanese seven-spice, to serve (optional)
• 8-10 bamboo skewers — soaked in water for 30 minutes

Method

1. Make the tare first. Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, crushed garlic and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes until reduced by about a third and lightly syrupy - it should coat the back of a spoon. Discard the garlic and ginger and set aside.
2. Thread the chicken onto the soaked skewers, alternating three or four pieces with lengths of spring onion, pushing them snugly together so they cook evenly. Leave a little bare skewer at the end to hold.
3. Heat your grill to its highest setting and line the tray with foil. Brush the skewers lightly with neutral oil and season with a small pinch of salt.
4. Grill the skewers about 8cm from the heat for 4 minutes, then turn and grill for another 3-4 minutes, until the chicken is golden with charred edges.
5. Now start glazing. Brush generously with the tare, return to the grill for a minute, then turn, brush the other side and grill again. Repeat this two or three times, building a glossy, sticky lacquer.
6. Check the chicken is cooked through with no pink in the middle and the juices run clear. The tare should be dark, shiny and caramelised at the edges.
7. Rest for a couple of minutes, brush with one last coat of tare, and scatter with shichimi togarashi. Serve hot with any remaining sauce for dipping.

Serve it with

• Steamed Japanese short-grain rice
• A cold Japanese lager or chilled sake
• Quick cucumber sunomono (vinegared salad)
• Edamame with sea salt
• A bowl of miso soup

Why this works

Reducing the tare concentrates the soy and mirin into a syrup that clings and caramelises, while repeated glazing in the final minutes builds flavour without burning the sugars too early. Thigh meat's fat keeps every bite juicy under fierce heat.

Common swaps

• No sake? Use dry sherry, or leave it out and add a splash more mirin.
• Swap spring onions for chunks of leek (negima-style) for a more traditional feel.
• No mirin? Use 2 tbsp extra sugar dissolved in 100ml water with a splash of rice vinegar.
• Chicken thighs can be swapped for boneless thigh from the deli counter, or firm tofu for a vegetarian version.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using chicken breast - it dries out fast under a hot grill, where thigh stays succulent.
• Glazing too early: the sugars in the tare burn before the chicken cooks. Grill first, then glaze in the final minutes.
• Skipping the skewer soak - dry bamboo scorches and can catch under the grill.
• Crowding the pieces too loosely, so they cook unevenly and won't char.

Storage, freezing & reheating

Storage: Keep leftover cooked skewers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Store any spare tare separately in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Freezing: Freeze the uncooked, threaded skewers (without glaze) for up to 1 month; defrost fully in the fridge before grilling. The tare also freezes well.

Reheating: Reheat cooked skewers under a hot grill or in a hot oven for a few minutes until piping hot, brushing with a little fresh tare to revive the glaze. Avoid the microwave, which makes them rubbery.

Allergen notes: contains Soya, Gluten. Always check individual product labels.

Estimated nutrition

Per serving, estimated from typical ingredient values — not a substitute for precise dietary calculation.