Chef Takumi
Aspara-bacon (アスパラベーコン, bacon-wrapped asparagus)
Aspara-bacon is late-spring asparagus treated with common sense: thin bacon, hot grill, and a last brush of shōyu and mirin so the spear stays sweet while the wrap crisps.
Culinary Explorer
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Yakitori Momo (もも, chicken thigh skewers)
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Momo is the forgiving yakitori skewer: dark chicken thigh, cut evenly, grilled close to the fire, and turned often enough that the outside glosses before the inside gives up its juice.
Appetizers & Snacks
Japanese
Dinner Party
BBQ
Game Day
25 min
Active Time
25 min cook•50 min total
Yield8 skewers
Momo is the skewer that tells you whether the grill is honest. Chicken thigh looks humble, and that is its strength. It has enough fat to forgive a nervous hand, enough flavor to stand with salt alone, and enough patience to take a thin brushing of tare without disappearing under it.
The hesitation is usually the fire. People imagine yakitori as a counterman's trick, all timing and secret sauce. It isn't. Cut the thigh evenly, thread it without crowding, and grill it hot enough that the outside browns before the inside dries. That is most of the work. The tare is there to shine, not to rescue. Nothing hidden.
We make momo two proper ways: tare, brushed late so the soy, mirin, sake, and sugar set into a lacquer-like gloss, or shio, finished with salt so the chicken speaks plainly. Both are honmono. The choice isn't a question of difficulty, only of what you want to taste first.
On a Japanese table, yakitori can be snack, supper, or the good reason everyone has gathered near the fire. Serve the skewers hot, in odd numbers if you are plating them, with a little empty space around them. The skewer is small, but the rule is large: source well, cut evenly, and let the grill do its work.
The word yakitori appears in Edo-period cookery writing, but for much of that period it could refer to grilled wild birds as well as domestic chicken. The chicken-skewer counter familiar today spread after the Meiji period, when meat eating became more common, and especially in the postwar Shōwa decades as small yakitori shops organized the bird into named cuts such as momo, kawa, mune, and sunagimo. Binchōtan, white charcoal long associated with the Kii region, became prized for yakitori because it burns with steady, clean heat.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
boneless skin-on chicken thighs
Quantity
900g
trimmed of hard cartilage, cut into 3cm pieces
flat bamboo skewers
Quantity
8
soaked in water for 30 minutes
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
divided
shōyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Quantity
1/3 cup
mirin
Quantity
1/3 cup
sake
Quantity
3 tablespoons
sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chicken skin or thigh trimming (optional)
Quantity
1 small piece
sanshō pepper (optional)
Quantity
for serving
lemon or yuzu wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless skin-on chicken thighstrimmed of hard cartilage, cut into 3cm pieces | 900g |
| flat bamboo skewerssoaked in water for 30 minutes | 8 |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1 teaspoon |
| shōyu (Japanese soy sauce) | 1/3 cup |
| mirin | 1/3 cup |
| sake | 3 tablespoons |
| sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| chicken skin or thigh trimming (optional) | 1 small piece |
| sanshō pepper (optional) | for serving |
| lemon or yuzu wedges (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Konro grill with binchōtan, or a small charcoal grill
- •Flat bamboo teppō-gushi skewers, or ordinary 6-inch bamboo skewers
- •Small saucepan
- •Heatproof brush
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Soak the skewers
Put the bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Bamboo still chars at the exposed tips, because fire is not a polite guest, but soaking keeps the buried parts from scorching before the chicken is done. If you're using metal skewers, skip this step.
- 2
Make the tare
Combine the shōyu, mirin, sake, sugar, and the optional chicken trimming in a small saucepan. Simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sauce looks glossy and lightly coats a spoon. This is tare, the soy-based grilling sauce. Simmering burns off the raw edge of the sake and mirin, and the chicken trimming gives the sauce a quiet roundness without turning it heavy. Remove the trimming and divide the tare: one small bowl for brushing, the rest kept clean for serving.
Tare is not a marinade here. Brush it near the end so the sugars glaze instead of burning. - 3
Cut the chicken
Trim away any hard cartilage, but don't remove every bit of skin and fat. Cut the thighs into even 3cm pieces. The size is the first secret of momo: pieces that match will finish together, while large ones stay raw inside and small ones dry out while you wait. Good thigh meat should look glistening fresh and smell clean, not sour or tired.
- 4
Thread the momo
Thread 4 or 5 pieces onto each skewer, folding thin pieces so the thickness stays even. Keep the pieces touching but not crushed together. The grill needs contact with the edges, and a packed skewer browns poorly. If you are making shio, the salt-finished version, season the skewers now with about 1/2 teaspoon salt. If you are making tare, leave them unsalted or use only a very light pinch.
- 5
Set the fire
Prepare a hot charcoal fire, ideally in a konro with binchōtan or over clean hardwood charcoal. The grate should sit close enough that the chicken browns quickly, but not so close that the tare burns on contact. You should hear a clear, steady sizzle when the meat touches the grill. A broiler is a sensible stand-in, but say plainly what changes: you'll get heat and browning, not the same charcoal fragrance.
- 6
Grill the chicken
Lay the skewers over the fire and turn them every 45 to 60 seconds. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges brown and the skin tightens and shines. Keep moving them if fat flares under the meat. Momo is generous, but it still asks for attention: hot fire browns the outside before the thigh loses its juiciness.
- 7
Finish the skewers
For tare, brush the skewers in the last 2 or 3 minutes, turn, brush again, and let each layer set glossy before adding the next. For shio, skip the sauce and finish with a final pinch of salt. Cook until the chicken reaches 74°C, or until the juices run clear when a thick piece is pierced. The sauce should cling in a thin shine, not hide the meat.
If the brushing tare touched undercooked chicken, discard it or boil it hard before using it again. The clean bowl you set aside is for the table. - 8
Rest and serve
Rest the skewers for 2 minutes, then serve them on the skewer with sanshō and a small citrus wedge if you like. Resting is brief, but it matters. The juices settle, the glaze stops feeling wet, and the skewer eats cleanly. Put down fewer skewers than the plate can hold. Leave it room.
Chef Tips
- •Choose skin-on chicken thigh if you can. Skinless thigh will still work, but the skewer loses some of the self-basting fat that makes momo so forgiving.
- •Do not soak the chicken in tare. Yakitori is grilled meat seasoned at the fire, and a wet marinade slows browning before it adds anything useful.
- •If you only have a broiler, line the exposed skewer handles with foil and set the rack close to the heat. It is a stand-in, not the charcoal counter, but it will still teach you the timing.
- •Make one skewer shio even if you're serving tare. Salt shows you the quality of the chicken and your grill work with nothing hidden.
Advance Preparation
- •The tare can be made up to 1 week ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm it slightly before brushing so it coats the chicken thinly.
- •The chicken can be cut and threaded up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the skewers covered and refrigerated, then bring them out 15 minutes before grilling so they don't go onto the fire icy-cold.
- •Soak bamboo skewers earlier in the day and keep them wrapped in a damp cloth until you thread the chicken.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 skewer (about 90g)
Calories
235 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
110 mg
Sodium
720 mg
Total Carbohydrates
4 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
20 g
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