If you happened to read our Low Carb Yakisoba recipe, you might remember how we mentioned Yakisoba is a Japanese summer festival/carnival food served across Japan! And with summer rolling in, we thought it’d be a good time to build on that and share another summer festival dish in yakitori! But our version uses an authentic sugar-free sauce to brush onto some BBQ yakitori!
Now Yakitori, which translate to ‘BBQ chicken’ BTW, comes in many different variations/combination.
They range from chicken skin, to chicken cartilage to quail eggs and back. But today, we’ll be sharing the recipe for what’s considered the ‘classic yakitori’ in this Japanese chicken skewers – yakitori recipe!
Yakitori is skewered chicken thighs with alternating green onions brushed with a semi sweet soy marinade.
And although that sounds innocent, the traditional marinate is loaded with sugar, so not exactly low carb.
But fret not – we here at LCA made a healthy version for all you folks! So the next time you’re in the mood to experience a Japanese festival food, fire up that grill and read on!
We start with your basic salt water brine to get the chicken nice and juicy. Just make sure you don’t over brine the chicken as it’ll become too salty.
While waiting for the brine, we’ll make the basting sauce which consists of some Monkfruit Erythritol Blend, Bonito Flakes, Soy Sauce, water, garlic and Japanese sake. Boil all that down and you have yourself some yakitori sauce!
After that, all that’s left to do is skewer the chicken with some green onions, BBQ it on the grill and finally, enjoy the BBQed yakotori!
Now, let’s get grilling this Japanese Chicken Skewers Yakitori Negima recipe!
- Brine time 1H (optional)
- Prepping Time 10M
- Cooking Time 15M
- Total Time 25M
- Net Carb/Skewer ~1g
- Serving 3-4 Skewers
Ingredients
Yakitori
- 1/2 lb Boneless and Skinless Chicken Thigh (about 2-3 pieces)
- 3 Stalk Green Onions
- 3-6 Wooden Skewers
- 1/8 tsp Toasted Sesame Seed (optional)
Optional Brine
- 2 Cups Water (optional brine)
- 1 tbsp Salt (optional brine)
Marinade
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Japanese Sake
- 1 tbsp Water
- 1 1/2 tbsp Monkfruit Erythritol Blend (or sweetener of choice)
- 1/2 Cup Bonito Flakes (can sub with 1/8 tsp of hondashi)
- 1 Garlic Clove
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Optional Brine – In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of salt. Add chicken and brine for 1 hour. Note – be careful not to over brine, otherwise it will come out too salty.
3) Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 10 minutes.
4) Finely dice garlic and set aside.
5) In a stove top pot, add all the ingredients for the marinate – Soy Sauce, Japanese Sake, Water, Monkfruit Erythritol Blend, Bonito Flakes, and Diced Garlic – and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer heat and let sauce reduce for 7-10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Once reduced, strain sauce with strainer and make sure to squeeze/press any excess sauce from the bonito flakes. Set aside. Note – we recommend setting some of the reserve sauce aside to drizzle before serving.
6) In the meantime, cut green onions into 1 inch pieces and set aside.
7) Cut chicken into 1/2 x 1/2 cube size bites and set aside.
8) Skewer chicken loosely (do not pack in tight). Use 2-3 pieces of chicken for every piece of green onion as picture shown.
9) Preheat grill to 350F. Once grill is preheated, reduce heat to medium-low and place skewers on the grill. Using a basting brush, generously brush marinade on each skewer and close lid. Rotate skewers every 2 minutes basting on each rotation and until done – should take around 8-10 minutes or once internal temp reaches 165F. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle optional Toasted Sesame Seed. Note – drizzle reserve sauce on prior to serving.
10) Optional Oven Instructions – if you don’t own a BBQ grill or located in an area where grilling is not possible, here are alternative oven instructions. Preheat oven to 500F. Place skewers on a baking rack in center of oven and generous brush marinade on each skewer. Rotate every 2 minutes basting on each rotation and continue until done – should take around 8-10 minutes or once internal temp reaches 165F. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle optional Toasted Sesame Seed. Note – drizzle reserve sauce on prior to serving.
Hope you enjoy your Japanese Chicken Skewers Yakitori Negima!
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Japanese Chicken Skewers Yakitori Negima
Ingredients
Yakitori
- 1/2 lb Chicken Thigh Boneless and Skinless
- 3 Stalk Green Onions
- 3-6 Wooden Skewers
- 1/8 tsp Toasted Sesame Seed optional
Optional Brine
- 2 Cups Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
Marinade
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Japanese Sake
- 1 tbsp Water
- 1 1/2 tbsp Monkfruit Erythritol Blend or sweetener of choice
- 1/2 Cup Bonito Flakes can sub with 1/8 tsp of hondashi
- 1 Clove Garlic
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Optional Brine - In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of salt. Add chicken and brine for 1 hour. Note - be careful not to over brine, otherwise it will come out too salty.
- Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 10 minutes.
- Finely dice garlic and set aside.
- In a stove top pot, add all the ingredients for the marinate - Soy Sauce, Japanese Sake, Water, Monkfruit Erythritol Blend, Bonito Flakes, and Diced Garlic - and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer heat and let sauce reduce for 7-10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Once reduced, strain sauce with strainer and make sure to squeeze/press any excess sauce from the bonito flakes. Set aside. Note - we recommend setting some of the reserve sauce aside to drizzle before serving.
- In the meantime, cut green onions into 1 inch pieces and set aside.
- Cut into 1/2 x 1/2 cube size bites and set aside.
- Skewer chicken loosely (do not pack in tight). Use 2-3 pieces of chicken for every piece of green onion as picture shown.
- Preheat grill to 350F. Once grill is preheated, reduce heat to medium-low and place skewers on the grill. Using a basting brush, generously brush marinade on each skewer and close lid. Rotate skewers every 2 minutes basting on each rotation and until done - should take around 8-10 minutes or once internal temp reaches 165F. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle optional Toasted Sesame Seed. Note - drizzle reserve sauce on prior to serving.
- Optional Oven Instructions - if you don't own a BBQ grill or located in an area where grilling is not possible, here are alternative oven instructions. Preheat oven to 500F. Place skewers on a baking rack in center of oven and generous brush marinade on each skewer. Rotate every 2 minutes basting on each rotation and continue until done - should take around 8-10 minutes or once internal temp reaches 165F. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle optional Toasted Sesame Seed. Note - drizzle reserve sauce on prior to serving.
Video
Nutrition
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Delicious recipe.
Glad you liked it!