Yardbirds Chicken Breast Yakitori Recipes

CHICKEN HEART YAKITORI SKEWERS

Steps:

• For the tare basting sauce: Heat a medium saucepan over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully pour the sake into the pan away from you (it may ignite). Burn off some of the alcohol for about 30 seconds. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, chicken powder, scallions and ginger and bring to the boil for about 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat and evenly divide between 2 tall, heatproof containers like liquid measuring cups. (One will be for quickly marinating and another will be for basting.) Set aside.
• For the yakitori: Skewer the heart halves on each of 20 skewers, alternating every 2 pieces of heart with a scallion piece.
• Put the skewers in one of tare basting sauces while you heat the grill.
• Load a konro grill with hot coals and heat until the coals burn white. Position the grate on top. Alternately, preheat a charcoal grill.
• Remove the skewers from the basting sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the skewers on one side until light brown and slightly crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn over and repeat until the scallions are soft and the hearts are medium, 3 to 5 minutes. Dunk the skewers into the unused tare basting sauce just until the hearts are fully dipped. Drain and place back on the grill for 1 minute on each side. The sauce will caramelize, and the hearts will crisp on the edges.
• Remove from the heat, then sprinkle on some sansho and shichimi and serve hot.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• Soak bamboo skewers in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain. Place soy sauce, sake, sugar, ginger and chives in a screw-top jar and shake well to mix.
• Trim chicken breasts of any fat and membranes and cut into bite-sized cubes, about 1 1/2 inches. Place chicken cubes in a shallow glass or ceramic dish, pour marinade over cubes, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat a stovetop grill pan, broiler (grill), or barbecue.
• Cut scallions into 2-inch lengths. Drain chicken, and thread cubes onto skewers alternately with scallions. Brush chicken and scallions with olive oil and cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side.
• Serve hot with soy sauce for dipping.

YARDBIRD'S YUZU MISO-MARINATED CHICKEN TENDER YAKITORI

Steps:

• Prepare the marinade by placing the barley miso, mirin, sake, yuzu skin, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Reserve in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Carefully remove the small tendon from the underside of each chicken fillet by running the tip of the knife blade just under the visible part of the tendon. Place the fillet on the cutting board. Pinching the end, run the knife along the tendon in a downward motion until removed. Repeat on the remaining fillets. Place in a shallow baking dish, and cover with the marinade, tossing to coat completely. Marinate for 1-2 hours.
• Starting at the wider end, cut each chicken fillet into three pieces to make a total of six pieces. Move one of the larger end pieces to the side of the smaller pieces. Starting with the smaller pieces at the bottom of the skewer, pinch the meat so the rounded, smooth side faces up. Insert the skewer directly through the middle of the meat. Continue skewering the rest of the fillet pieces, working up in size, keeping the smooth side of the meat facing up. Repeat until you have five identical skewers, each weigh about 1½ ounces each.
• Start with the smooth side down over high heat, grilling until light brown, 1-2 minutes. Rotate ¼ turn, cook on each side until lightly colored, about 1 minute per side. Once three sides are colored, finish cooking on the last side until light brown, 1-2 minutes. Spray with sake and lightly season with salt to finish. Garnish with yuzu zest and a squeeze of fresh yuzu juice.

YARDBIRD'S CHICKEN BREAST YAKITORI

Steps:

• Trim any excess fat from the outside of the breast. Cut the the thin end of the breast into a 2-inch (5-cm) wide piece. Cut the remaining piece lengthwise. Then cut the resulting lengths in half. Cut the pieces of breast so that you end up with 25 even bite-size rectangular pieces. Starting with the thinnest pieces of meat, pinch the meat so that the shiny side faces up and skewer directly through the middle of the meat. Repeat, being sure that the shiny side is facing up and that you are skewering directly through the middle of the meat, until you end up with five skewers with five chunks of chicken per skewer. Each skewer should weigh about 1½ ounces.
• Brush the skewers with a light coating of olive oil. Season with kosher salt. Start with the smooth-side down over high heat, grilling until light brown, 2-3 minutes. Rotate ¼ turn, cook on each side until lightly colored, about 1 minute per side. Once three sides are colored, finish cooking on the last side until light brown, about 2 minutes. Spray with sake and lightly season with salt to finish. Garnish with wasabi and soy sauce.

CHICKEN YAKITORI

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; set aside half the mixture for serving., Thread peppers onto 2 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Thread chicken onto 6 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat until meat is cooked through, 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally and basting frequently with soy sauce mixture during the last 3 minutes. Grill peppers, covered, until tender, 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally. Grill onions, covered, until lightly charred, 1-2 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve chicken and vegetables with reserved sauce for dipping.

YAKITORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Debone the drumsticks, including some of the cartilage. It's important to keep these components very cold. Place the meat along with the soft bone and meat grinder parts into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Progressively grind the meat and soft bone on a 1/8-inch plate. Grind directly into a stainless mixing bowl set on top of an ice bath to keep the mixture cold.
• Add the minced onion, panko, salt and pepper to the meat mixture. Using a gloved hand, incorporate all the ingredients while mixing with vigor. The mixture should become sticky as the naturally occurring niacin is activated from the mixing motion. Immediately chill the mixture in the refrigerator.
• The skewers I use are square, so if the meat is loaded onto the sticks in a centered way, they should sit stable when resting on each side. If the weights are not evenly distributed, they will have a tendency to slip so the heavy side faces down - I tend to use other skewers as supports, so a little bit of over-crowding can work to your benefit.
• Divide the mixture into even 1 3/4-ounce (50g) portions, them form them along each skewer, working the meat lightly in your hands from the point of the skewer downward. Slightly wet your palm while shaping for cleaner results.
• The grill should be prepared high heat on one section, and much cooler on another section. This will allow quick searing as well as slow rendering of fats without flares of flames. Further, binchotan charcoal tends to snuff out when too much rendered fats drop on to it, causing more complications. Having a cooler section allows for a more intentional and thoughtful grilling process!
• Each skewer takes different lengths of time to grill, and how you build the coals into the grill, the atmospheric temperature and direction of wind will all contribute to slowing the cooking process down. During optimal conditions, the skewers should take 2 to 3 minutes tops to cook through, turning as the meat browns.

YARDBIRD'S GREEN MISO CHICKEN BREAST SKEWERS

Steps:

• Make the green miso marinade. Place the basil, parsley, and pine nuts in a blender and blend at high speed until smooth. While the blender is running, slowly add the olive oil, pouring it in a steady stream, until it is blended together. Add the miso soup and roasted garlic and blend again until smooth.
• Trim any excess fat from the outside of the chicken breast. Cut the the thin end of the breast into a 2-inch (5-cm) wide piece. Cut the remaining piece lengthwise. Then cut the resulting lengths in half. Cut the pieces of breast so that you end up with 25 even bite-sized rectangular pieces. Starting with the thinnest pieces of meat, pinch the meat so that the shiny side faces up and skewer directly through the middle of the meat. Repeat, being sure that the shiny side is facing up and that you are skewering directly through the middle of the meat, until you end up with five skewers with five chunks of chicken per skewer. Each skewer should weigh about 1½ ounces.
• Place the prepared skewers in a shallow baking dish in a single layer. Cover with the prepared marinade, cover, and chill for at least one hour.
• Start with the smooth-side down over high heat, grilling until light brown, 2-3 minutes. Rotate ¼ turn, cook on each side until lightly colored, about 1 minute per side. Once three sides are colored, finish cooking on the last side until dark brown, about 2 minutes. Spray with sake and lightly season with salt to finish. Garnish by adding one lemon wedge to each skewer before serving.

YAKITORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a medium dish, mix together the sake, soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger. Add chicken, and allow to marinate for 15 minutes.
• Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease six metal skewers, and thread alternately with 3 pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of leek. Place on a baking sheet or broiling pan, and brush with the marinade.
• Broil for about 5 minutes, baste again, then broil for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Discard remaining marinade.