Yakitori is Japanese skewered chicken, cooked on a charcoal grill with either sweet soy sauce or just salt. You DO NOT marinate the chicken before cooking through. Yakitori is great for entertaining a big crowd as it is a kind of finger food. It is quite easy to make. (Watch the Video)
In this recipe, I am sharing the two most common yakitori - negima (chicken and shallots/scallions yakitori) and momo (plain chicken thigh yakitori) with sweet soy sauce. I also included onion rings on skewers and bacon & asparagus on skewers.
The recipe also includes different methods of grilling yakitori – on a yakitori grill/BBQ and using the oven grill/broiler.
Cook time can vary a lot depending on how many skewers you can grill at once.
- 15 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes (Note 1)
- 750g / 1.7lb skinless chicken thigh fillets , cut into 2.5cm / 1” cubes (Note 2)
- 15 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes (Note 1)
- 450g / 1lb skinless chicken thigh fillets , cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes (note 2)
- 30 green onion pieces (3cm / 1⅛" long, white and green firm parts only)
- 8 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes (Note 1)
- 4 small onions , cut horizontally into 1.3-1.5cm / ½-⅝" thick (note 3)
- 10 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes (Note 1)
- 10 thick asparagus spears , end trimmed (about 15cm / 6" long and 1.3-1.5cm / ½-⅝" in diameter, note 4)
- 40 thin streaky English bacon pieces (7cm / 2¾” long, about 360g / 0.8lb, note 5)
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Add Sauce ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium or medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the quantity by about a third. (Note 6).
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To make momo (chicken thigh), thread around 5 pieces of chicken onto the skewers.
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To make negima, start with chicken and alternately thread chicken pieces and green onion pieces, ending with chicken. Thread 3 chicken pieces and 2 green onions onto each skewer.
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Thread 2 onion slices, crosswise, onto each skewer.
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In a large pot, bring a sufficient amount of water and bring it to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and blanch asparagus spears for 30 seconds.
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Drain asparagus spears and cool them down quickly under cold running water or by putting them in ice water.
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Cut each spear into 3cm long pieces. You will get 5 pieces from each spear, which will make one Bacon & Asparagus skewer.
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Starting from the piece at the bottom end of the spear, wrap each piece in a piece of bacon, except the last two pieces, i.e., the tip and the piece next to the tip, and thread them onto a skewer.
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Place the tip and the piece next to the tip together side by side and wrap them in a piece of bacon, then thread them onto the skewer on top.
Repeat for the rest of the asparagus spears (note 7).
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The distance between the hot charcoal and where the skewers are placed should be about 5-6cm / 2-2½” (Note 8).
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In the case of BBQ, oil (not in ingredients) the grill.
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Using a brush, lightly baste both sides of the skewers with sauce and cook for about 4 minutes.
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Turn them over and baste the upside (cooked side) while cooking for about 4 minutes.
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Turn them over again and baste the upside (cooked side) while cooking for 30 seconds or so.
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Turn them over once more to cook for 30 seconds or so. (Note 9)
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Remove from the grill and place it onto a plate. Serve immediately.
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Cook Bacon & Asparagus skewers for 3 minutes on each side without basting with sauce.
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When the bacon becomes golden, it is ready.
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Turn the oven grill on to high.
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Line a large baking tray with aluminium foil (Note 10). Place a wire rack on it and oil the rack (not in ingredients).
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Using a brush, lightly baste both sides of skewers with sauce and place the skewers on the rack. I used 70cm x 26cm / 14½” x 10¼” baking tray and I could fit all the skewers onto ot.
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Place the baking tray under the oven grill. The distance between the skewers and the grill should be about 5cm / 2”.
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Cook for 5-6 minutes, then take the tray out and turn the skewers over.
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Baste the upside (cooked side) of the skewers and place the tray back under the grill.
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Cook for 4-5 minutes, then take the tray out and turn the skewers over again.
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Baste the upside (cooked side) of the skewers and place the tray back under the grill.
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Cook for a minute or until the chicken and shallots/scallions start getting charred a bit.
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If required, turn the skewers once more to char the other side.
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Remove the skewers from the tray and place them onto a plate. Serve immediately.
1. I used thin round 18cm / 7" bamboo skewers. But you could use 15cm, slightly longer skewers or flat skewers. I find that thin round skewers are the easiest to thread the chicken pieces.
Soaking the bamboo skewers is very important. It prevents the skewers from getting burnt too quickly when grilling.
The number of skewers required varies depending on how many pieces of chicken you put on each skewer. Since my yakitori grill is 10cm wide, I put ingredients on a skewer to fit in this width.
2. I bought thigh fillets that did not have skin on this time. But I sometimes use thigh fillets with skin on, which is equally delicious. You could also use chicken breast instead of thigh, or a mixture of both.
3. If you can only find large onions, you may want to put one large slice onto each skewer. Then you probably need a couple of onions.
4. If your asparagus is much longer/shorter, you will need to adjust the number of spears required because the number of pieces you will get from each spear will be more/less respectively. I cut 5 x 3cm / 1⅛" long pieces from each spear.
5. My English bacon strip was 20cm / 8" long. So I cut each strip into 3 equal size pieces.
6. Depending on the size of the pot, the time taken to reduce the sauce varies.
7. If you cut more/less than 5 pieces from each spear, you won't always end up with spears at the top. But that's OK.
8. Depending on the griller/BBQ, you may need to adjust the distance/spacing as the temperature of the heat varies. The heat should be medium high to high.
9. I basted twice on each side, but you can turn them over once more with another coating of sauce if you prefer a stronger flavour.
10. If you don’t line the baking tray with aluminium foil, the sauce will drop directly onto the tray and get burnt badly due to the sugar in the sauce. Line the baking tray so that you don't have to clean the mess later.
11. Nutrition information is for 1 skewer of momo assuming 15 skewers are made with equal distribution of ingredients.
serving: 57g calories: 109kcal fat: 7.3g (11%) saturated fat: 2g (10%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 1.6g monounsaturated fat: 3.1g cholesterol: 48mg (16%) sodium: 253mg (11%) potassium: 110mg (3%) carbohydrates: 2.1g (1%) dietary fibre: 0g (0%) sugar: 1.8g protein: 8.6g vitamin a: 1% vitamin c: 0% calcium: 0.4% iron: 1.9%
Originally published in September 2016. Rewritten in November 2021 with new photos and video added. Recipe has also changed to include other ingredients and also increase the quantity.