Yakitori no Tare (焼き鳥のたれ, grilled chicken glaze)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Heatproof spoon or silicone spatula
• •Clean glass jar with lid
• •Hake (Japanese basting brush), or a small heatproof pastry brush
• •Small tare tsubo or basting cup for grill use

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine the base

   Put the shōyu, hon mirin, sake, and sugar in a small heavy saucepan and stir once to wet the sugar. Use hon mirin if you can, not a salty mirin-style seasoning, because the sweetness and alcohol help the tare round out as it reduces. The shōyu brings salt and depth, the mirin and sugar bring shine, and the sake loosens the sauce long enough for the alcohol edge to cook away.

2. 2

   Bring to a simmer

   Set the pan over medium heat and bring it just to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Don't walk away at the start. Mirin and sake foam quickly, and a boilover is a dramatic way to clean the stove, which is not one of the six methods of washoku.

   A steady simmer drives off harsh alcohol and begins concentrating the sauce. A hard boil only throws the seasoning up the sides of the pan and makes the reduction uneven.
3. 3

   Reduce slowly

   Lower the heat and simmer gently for 18 to 25 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about one third. You are aiming for about 1 1/2 cups. The bubbles will grow slower and glossier, and the smell will shift from sharp soy and alcohol to something rounder and darker.

4. 4

   Test the glaze

   Dip in a spoon and lift it over the pan. The tare should coat the back in a thin shiny sheet, and a line drawn through it with your finger should close slowly. Stop there. Hot tare looks thinner than cooled tare, so if it seems perfect in the pan, it will be too thick in the jar.

   If you reduce it too far, add a tablespoon of sake or water and simmer briefly to even it out. If it is too thin, give it a few more quiet minutes.
5. 5

   Cool and store

   Take the pan off the heat and let the tare cool until warm, then pour it into a clean glass jar. Cooling it before sealing keeps condensation from dripping back into the sauce and thinning it. Refrigerate the clean master jar, and use a clean spoon whenever you take some out.

6. 6

   Brush at the grill

   When grilling yakitori, pour a little tare into a separate basting cup. Grill the skewers mostly through first, then brush, turn, brush again, and let the fire set the glaze in the last 2 to 3 minutes. Brush too early and the sugar burns before the chicken finishes. Brush late and the sauce turns glossy while the meat stays clean-tasting.

7. 7

   Protect the jar

   Discard any tare left in the basting cup after it touches the brush, unless you boil it hard for several minutes and strain it before returning it to the master jar. This is not fussiness. The old yakitoriya pot deepens because it is constantly heated and managed. A home jar needs the same respect in smaller form.

8. 8

   Refresh as needed

   When the master jar drops by half, refresh it with 1/2 cup shōyu, 1/2 cup mirin, 1/4 cup sake, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Simmer the whole jar for 10 to 12 minutes, then cool and refrigerate again. The flavor deepens not by magic, but by repeated reduction and clean use.

Chef Tips

• •Use Japanese koikuchi shōyu. A sauce this plain has nothing hidden, so a harsh soy sauce will announce itself immediately.
• •Don't add dashi to yakitori tare. Dashi is the first secret in many dishes, but here the sauce's work is to gloss grilled chicken and meet the fire. Stock would thin the glaze and blur the clean soy-sweet edge.
• •If you want a less sweet tare, reduce the sugar by a tablespoon, not by half. The sugar is not only sweetness. It gives the sauce its cling and shine.
• •For weeknight skewers, make the tare days ahead. Then the cooking is only cutting, skewering, grilling, and brushing late. This cuisine is often simpler once the foundation is ready.
• •Keep two vessels by the grill: the clean master jar away from the heat, and a small working cup for the brush. The old shop jar is romantic. Food safety is more useful.

Advance Preparation

• •The clean master tare keeps for 3 to 4 weeks refrigerated. Bring it to a simmer before refreshing or before folding any boiled basting tare back into it.
• •For grilling, portion only what you need into a basting cup. Discard the brush cup after use unless it is boiled hard and strained.
• •If the tare thickens in the refrigerator, warm it gently or loosen it with a spoonful of sake, then simmer briefly until it coats a spoon again.
• •The tare is at its best after a day of resting, when the raw edge of the seasonings has settled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 30g)