Grilled Skewered Chicken

Japanese Cooking, p. 226

8 chicken thighs with skin, boned

8 large, thick spring onions

YAKITORI SAUCE

60ml/4 tbsp sake

75ml/5 tbsp shoyu

15ml/1 tbsp mirin

15ml/1 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar

TO SERVE

Shuchimi togarashi, sansho or lemon wedges

First, make the yakitori sauce. Mix all the ingredients together in a small pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.

Get the low-sodium soy sauce if you want to make this even healthier - but it's already super low-cal!

Cut the chicken into 2.5cm/1 in cubes. Cut the spring onions into 2.5cm/1 in long sticks.

To grill (broil), preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Oil the wire rack and spread out the chicken cubes on it. 

I followed the broiler directions on the George Foreman and it seemed to work pretty well.

Grill both sides of the chicken until the juices drip, then dip the pieces in the sauce and put back on the rack. 

Dip dip dip!

Grill for 30 seconds on each side, repeating the dipping process twice more.

A thing of beauty.

Set aside and keep warm. Gently grill the spring onions until soft and slightly brown outside. 

This part gets a little wonky on the foreman, but if you have the tongs ready to go at a moment's notice it works.

Do not dip. Thread about four pieces of chicken and three spring onion pieces on to each of eight bamboo skewers.

Alternatively, to cook on a barbecue, soak eight bamboo skewers overnight in water. This prevents the skewers from burning. Prepare the barbecue. Thread the chicken and spring onion pieces on to skewers, as above. Place the sauce in a small bowl with a brush.

Cook the skewered chicken on the barbecue. Keep the skewer handles away from the fire, turning them frequently until the juices start to drip. Brush the chicken with sauce. Return to the coals and repeat this process twice more until the chicken is well cooked.

Arrange the skewers on a platter and serve sprinkled with shichimi togarashi or sansho, or accompanied by lemon wedges. 

Now that's neat.

My Rating: 4/5 "I was intensely proud of myself for making this. It's healthy, it's tasty, and it's all skewered and interesting-looking. A win for dinner parties or just for jazzing up your regular dinner!"