Yakitori - Grilled Chicken Meatballs

Yakitori is grill chicken speared on skewer. I used to buy it from my favorite Japanese fast food restaurant, Goiza. In Japan you can get it everywhere from street vendors.



The important key is, apart of using fresh chicken and grilling it well, the quality of the sauce. I'm satisfied with this recipe especially the sauce. It tasted great, eventhough I skipped sake and used non alcoholic mirin. The balls were delicious when eat warmed. But unfortunately, they turned out to be too hard to chew when cold, so better eat right after grilling (on the next day, I used the left-over grilled balls for my chicken meatballs soup).

Ok Sig since you are the host, here's my contribution for Monthly Mingle-Grill It to celebrate summer. Come on join the fun of grilling here! And Bee, thanks for sharing the recipe. I found it coincidently in your 2007's archive ;).





Grilled Chicken Meat Balls (Yakitori)
Source : Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:
11 oz skinless chicken (minced)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons corn starch
6 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
(dita- I added 1 tbsp soy sauce)
2 inches fresh ginger root (grated)
Bamboo skewers

For the "tare" yakitori sauce
4 tablespoons sake
5 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon corn starch blended with 1 teaspoon water

Method:
1. Put all the ingredients for the chicken balls (except the ginger) in a food processor and blend well.
2. Wet your hands and scoop about a tablespoonful of the mixture into your palm. Shape it into a small ball about half the size of a golf ball.
3. Squeeze the juice from the grated ginger into a small mixing bowl. Discard the pulp.
4. Add the ginger juice to a small pan of boiling water. Add the chicken balls and boil for about 7 minutes, or until the color of the meat changes and the balls float to the surface. Scoop out and drain on a plate covered with paper towels.
5. In a small pan, mix all the ingredients for the yakitori sauce, except for the corn starch solution. Bring the mixture to boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce slightly reduced. Add the corn starch solution and stir until the sauce is thickened. Transfer to a small bowl.
6. Thread 3-4 balls on to each bamboo skewer. Grill the skewers with an indoor grill or broiler or on a barbeque (preferred). Brush them with the yakitori sauce and turn the skewers frequently until the balls turn brown.
7. Serve hot and sprinkle with shichimi togarashi (Japanese chile powder with sesame seeds) and some yakitori sauce if you like.