Chicken and asparagus yakitori
Easy Chicken Dinners
Chicken and asparagus yakitori. Yakitori literally means “grilled chicken” in Japanese and its simplicity means you have to be using the best quality chicken you can get. Take care skewering each piece so that it keeps a consistent shape. Yakitori at home is a little different to having it in a restaurant. I use metal skewers as they’re easier to manage on an ordinary barbecue, and I put a few extra pieces on each skewer to make them extra-large so I don’t have to tend to too many skewers on the grill.
Cooking time
<1hr
Serves
4-6
Ingredients
- 1 kg Lilydale free range chicken thigh fillets
- salt, to season
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 bunch thick asparagus, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths
- shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice), to serve
- Grilled chicken tare
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 small brown onion, cut into thick rings
- 2 cloves garlic, bruised
- 3 slices ginger, bruised
- 200ml soy sauce
- 100 ml sake
- 100 ml mirin
- 100 g sugar
Method
- Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil, onion slices, garlic and ginger and cook until browned and slightly charred. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced and glossy. Strain out the solids and transfer to a container you can keep in the fridge.
- Cut the chicken into 4cm pieces and skewer onto wooden or metal skewers, add a piece of asparagus after every 2 pieces of chicken.
- Heat a barbecue grill over high heat. Drizzle the skewers with a little oil and grill for about 5 minutes, turning frequently. About halfway through cooking, start brushing frequently with the tare and continue cooking until the tare is caramelised and the chicken just cooked through. Serve with the shichimi togarashi.
