TURNING JAPANESE

Japanese is one of my favourite cuisines. As soon as I can save thousands of dollars I have wondrous plans to travel over to Japan and dine on sushi and rice for days. Until that day arrives I have to satisfy myself with cooking Japanese dishes. The dish below does require a tad more preparation than other meals featured on this blog, but the end result is worth it.

CHICKEN YAKITORI 

INGREDIENTS 

• 500g chicken breast fillets, sliced into thin strips 
• 1/2 cup (125ml) mirin 
• Mirin is a type of rice wine, similar to sake but with a lower alcoholic content. It can be found in Coles in the Asian section or in Asian speciality supermarkets. 
• 1/4 cup (60ml) kecap manis 
• Kecap manis is an Indonesian soy sauce that is sweeter in taste than regular soy sauce. Again, this condiment can be found in Coles or in Asian speciality supermarkets. 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 5-10 skewers, depending on the amount of chicken you want on each skewer.
• I used 5 skewers, as I loaded the chicken pieces onto each one. 

COOKING 

1. Thread chicken strips onto skewers. Place skewers in a single layer in a large dish. 

2. Combine mirin, kecap manis and soy sauce in a small bowl/jug. Pour half of the mixture over the skewers and refrigerate the remaining marinade. Cover the skewers and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

3. After 3 hours, simmer the remaining marinade in a small saucepan over low heat until the liquid is reduced by half. 

4. Cook the skewers on a heated grill place or barbecue or in the oven. Cook until chicken is cooked through and no pink flesh remains. In an oven of 180 degrees Celsius this will take approximately 10 minutes. 

5. Pour the remaining hot marinade over the skewers and add sesame seeds and spring onions. 

Preparation time - 20 minutes (plus refrigeration time)

Cooking time- 10 minutes 

Nutritional count per serving - 0.6g fat per skewer (pw) / 29 calories pw  (121 kj) / 0.3g carbohydrates pw / 4.9 protein pw. 

Recipe from the '1000 Best ever recipes from AWW' cookbook. 

x E