Negima Yakitori (Grilled Chicken Skewers)

Negima is one of the most popular yakitori dishes in Japan as you can eat them in restaurants or at food stalls in Japan’s well-known “Shoutengai”. They are an excellent snack to eat on the fly if you do not have time to sit down in a restaurant during your visit to Japan.

The word ‘yaki’ means “something roasted or baked”. And ‘tori’ is poultry or chicken. So, yakitori literally translates to ‘grilled chicken’. These days, even some of the specialty yakitori shops serve other types of meat, such as grilled pork and vegetables on skewers.

Important Note : If you only use salt to flavor the chicken, you should add it before cooking and not during cooking so that the salt penetrates the chicken.

Ingredients:

Use the amount of chicken thigh or breast that suits you best, the sauce measures for 4 people.

– Scallions, or leeks tender and thin, only the white parts

For the tare sauce you will need:

– ¾ cup of sake or white wine
– 1⅓ cups of mirin
– 3 spoonfuls of sugar
– 1⅓ cups of shoyu (soy sauce)

In Japan, these delicious skewers are usually prepared with chopsticks or wooden skewers. If it is not possible for you to get them in any establishment that sells food or ingredients from Japan, you can also make them with metal skewers!

Preparation Mode

– Put all the ingredients of the Tare sauce in a small saucepan and bring the contents to a boil.

– Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until the amount of tare is reduced by a third.

– Cut the chicken into cubes of 2.5 cm approx. and the green onion stems in pieces of 3 cm approx. long

– Use 3 pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of green onion on each skewer. Alternately thread chicken and green onion, ending with chicken.

– Lightly spray both sides of the chicken with water and grill for 3-4 minutes.

– Flip the skewers and add some Tare sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes. Do this step about two more times spaced 30 seconds apart until you think the chicken and chives are cooked.