Yakitori Flavors at Home

I am quite possibly yakitori's number one fan, and while I am perfectly happy to eat my way through an alarming number of skewers whenever the opportunity presents itself, recreating the experience at home is another matter. I don't have a charcoal grill permanently at my disposal, and sometimes I want the flavors of yakitori without the business of cutting everything into small pieces, threading them onto skewers, and tending them over a fire. I should also mention that I am invariably the happy caterer at my sister's milestone birthday parties, and for her 60th, held on a New York rooftop, as part of her izakaya dinner for 60, my son and I skewered hundreds of pieces of chicken and leek for the ravenous crowds. I think the experience put me off skewering anything for the rest of my natural life.

This was my attempt to get around that problem using a cast iron skillet. I wanted the chicken skin to be crisp and the leeks to have a little char before adding the tare, the sweet and salty sauce that makes yakitori so irresistible to me. The trick was to get the browning done first, then turn everything over and add the sauce so that the skin stayed out of the liquid. I finished the whole thing uncovered in the oven rather than risk undoing all that lovely crisping by putting a lid on the pan.

I also threw in some shishito peppers because I happened to have them, although they are entirely optional and not remotely essential to the success of the dish. The result was delicious, and while I wouldn't suggest that anyone confuse this with yakitori cooked over charcoal, it certainly scratched the itch without requiring me to leave the house or acquire any specialized equipment.

I served this with steamed short-grain rice.

Makes two portions.

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

4 small leeks, white parts only, thoroughly washed and halved lengthwise

A handful of shishito peppers (optional)

2 Tbsps soy sauce

2 Tbsps mirin

2 Tbsps sake

2 tsps sugar

1 tsp vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Season the chicken thighs lightly with salt. Add the oil in a large cast iron skillet and arrange the chicken skin-side down, with the halved leeks cut-side down alongside them. Start the pan off cold and once you have added the meat and veg turn the heat to medium-high. Leave everything undisturbed long enough for the chicken skin to become crisp and golden and the leeks to develop some char, approximately eight to ten minutes. Adjust the heat if the leeks are browning too quickly. If your skillet isn't large enough to accommodate everything without crowding, brown the chicken and leeks in batches.

Turn the chicken skin-side up and flip the leeks over. If using shishito peppers, add them to the skillet at this point.

Add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar directly to the skillet, stirring gently in the spaces between the chicken and leeks to dissolve the sugar without disturbing the crisp chicken skin.

Transfer the skillet to the oven, uncovered, and cook for approximately twenty to twenty five minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the tare has reduced to a glossy sauce. Check after about fifteen minutes; if the sauce is reducing too quickly or becoming too thick, add a splash of water to prevent it from burning. God forbid you ruin the dish when you have gotten this far!

Remove the skillet from the oven and spoon some of the reduced tare over the leeks and around the chicken, leaving the crisp skin alone.

Serve with steamed Asian rice and whatever sauce remains in the skillet.