Yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick)
4-6 chicken breast
small red onion, quartered
tare (sauce):
100 ml mirin
100 ml soy sauce
2 TBSP sugar
Cut the chicken pieces into bite size pieces. You may opt to use boneless chiicken breast or the darker boneless chicken thigh. Also, you may opt to remove the skin.
For the tare (sauce):Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. On high heat, bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat to low, swirl the pan to make sure sugar is evenly dissolved then simmer for 5 minutes.
(I was very glad that I found myself a small bottle of mirin. It is very difficult to find Japanese food ingredients in my part of the country.)
In a bamboo skewer, spear a piece of quartered onion (the original recipe asks for naganegi but since I wasn’t able to get a bunch I opted for the small red onion). Next, add a piece of chicken. Repeat the process leaving at least half an inch free at the tip of the skewer.
Heat a grill pan over low heat. Add about 2 tablespoon of oil then spread evenly. Arange the skewered chicken on the grill pan. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side. Pour 1/4 – 1/2 cup of the sauce over the chicken, cover and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken.
Arrange on a plate and pour the remaining sauce over them. Serve warm.
Karaage (Chinese-Japanese fried chicken)
The thing is I haven’t a concrete proof how tis dish became a fusion of chinese and japanese cooking. I suspect it has something to do with the ingredients and method. After all the kara- refers to chinese cooking method and age- japanese word meaning fried.
The traditional recipe requires a quick marinade of grated ginger, soy suce and sake. I switched gears and decided to use the remainder of my yakitori sauce.
Ingredients:
2-4 boneless chicken thigs
1 cup tare (sauce)
cornstarch
Procedure: Cut the boneless chicken thighs into bite size pieces. Put the chicken pieces in a clean dry bowl. Pour the marinade over and gently massage into the chicken. Marinate for about 30 minutes and no longer than an hour.
Meanwhile heat enough oil to deep fry small pieces of chicken. Remove excess marinade before coating the chicken, it should be damp enough for the cornstarch to cling nicely into the meat. Coat each chicken piece with enough cornstarch to completely cover them.
Deep fry a few pieces at a time until deep golden brown.
