Yakitori Negima (ねぎま, chicken and scallion)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Bamboo yakitori skewers (teppōgushi), or flat bamboo skewers soaked in water
• •Konro grill with binchōtan charcoal, or a small charcoal or gas grill with a narrow hot zone
• •Clean basting brush
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the skewers

   Put 12 bamboo yakitori skewers in water for 30 minutes. This doesn't make wood fireproof, no kitchen miracle today, but it slows the scorching at the exposed ends while the chicken cooks. If you're using metal skewers, skip this step.

2. 2

   Cook the tare

   Combine the shōyu, mirin, sake, sugar, and the optional chicken skin or wing tip in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until glossy and lightly thickened, 10 to 12 minutes, about 2/3 cup. The simmer drives off the raw edge of the sake and concentrates the soy and mirin; the chicken trimming gives the sauce a little body, the home cook's honest stand-in for the tare that yakitori shops build over many services.

   Strain the tare, then divide it into two bowls: one for brushing raw chicken at the grill, one clean bowl for the final gloss. Any tare touched by raw chicken should be discarded or boiled hard for one full minute before saving.
3. 3

   Cut the pieces

   Pat the chicken dry and cut it into pieces about 1 inch across. Cut the naganegi into thick rounds, a little longer than the chicken pieces. Matching the sizes is not fussiness. It lets the chicken cook through just as the negi softens and chars at the rim, so neither one waits for the other.

4. 4

   Thread the negima

   Thread each skewer with chicken and negi in turn, usually three pieces of chicken and two pieces of negi, leaving a handle bare at the end. Keep the pieces close but not jammed together. If they're packed tight, heat can't reach the sides and the skewer cooks like a bundle, not like yakitori.

5. 5

   Ready the grill

   Heat a konro with binchōtan if you have it, or set a charcoal or gas grill for medium-high direct heat with a cooler edge nearby. Oil the grate lightly and sprinkle the skewers with the salt. The salt seasons the chicken underneath the tare, while the clean hot grate gives you color before the sauce ever touches the meat.

6. 6

   Grill unglazed

   Lay the skewers over the heat and grill without tare at first, turning once or twice, until the chicken turns opaque at the edges and the negi blisters in spots, about 5 minutes. This is the detail that decides it: glaze too early and the sugar burns before the chicken is cooked. Color first, lacquer later.

7. 7

   Brush and finish

   Brush the skewers with the basting tare, turn, brush again, and keep grilling until the chicken is glossy, browned in patches, and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes more. Move any skewer that darkens too quickly to the cooler edge. The chicken should reach 165 F (74 C) at the thickest piece, and the negi should look collapsed at the center and charred only at the edges.

8. 8

   Serve at once

   Brush the skewers once more with the clean reserved tare, then set them on a long plate while the glaze still shines. Add a light dusting of shichimi tōgarashi if you like. Serve in an odd-numbered grouping and leave the plate some empty space. Yakitori is direct food, but it still deserves ma, the room that lets the eye settle.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chicken thighs with good color and a clean smell, not watery meat sitting in a tray of liquid. Yakitori gives you no heavy sauce to hide behind, which is exactly why it's worth making.
• •Naganegi is best in the colder months, when the white part grows sweeter. If you use Western leeks, choose small ones and use the tender center, not the tough outer leaves. It will work, but it won't be quite the same thing.
• •A konro with binchōtan gives a steady, narrow heat, the yakitori cook's proper tool. A small charcoal grill, gas grill, or hot broiler can do the work if you keep the heat direct and controlled.
• •Don't marinate the chicken. Yakitori is grilled first and seasoned as it cooks, so the surface browns instead of stewing in sweet soy. The tare belongs to the fire, not the refrigerator.
• •If using a broiler, set the skewers on a foil-lined rack about 6 inches from the element and turn often. Watch the tare closely. A minute is a long time when sugar is near fierce heat.

Advance Preparation

• •The tare can be made up to 5 days ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm it gently before using so it brushes on thinly and evenly.
• •The chicken and negi can be cut and threaded up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the skewers covered in the refrigerator, then pat any surface moisture away before grilling.
• •Soak bamboo skewers 30 minutes before grilling. Longer soaking is harmless, but don't expect it to save the wood if flames are licking the handles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 205g)