Kushiyaki 串焼

Every week I ask my family for suggestions for our weekly dinners. Typical responses include, "I don't know" and "Steak" and "Ohhhhh!! Let's have fondue again." Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll put your suggestions on the menu, but I'm not sure where to buy the ingredients for "I don't know." We are gonna be hungry after that meal.

With such explicit requests, I usually decide on the menu myself. To my surprise, The Husband, who has never even read my blog, actually emailed me a dinner suggestion and a recipe for this week. Yakitori.

The Japanese translation of Yakitori (as written in Japanese - 焼き鳥 やきとり), is grilled bird. Skewered pieces of chicken are barbecued and basted with a sauce made from mirin (sweetened Japanese rice wine), soy sauce, and sugar. I already had 2 other chicken dishes in the queue; I decided to use pork tenderloin instead. Little did I know I was making a new entree with the switch from chicken to pork. On tap for tonight was Kushiyaki 串焼. Skewered pork, beef, fish or seafood is also available at the yakitori stalls on the streets of Japan and is typically called Kushiyaki.

As always, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. In addition to the mirin, soy sauce, and sugar, I added grated fresh ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. Instead of just basting the pork with the sauce, I marinated the meat for about 2 hours. I was pretty much of a whimp; it was too cold for me to grill outside tonight. I opted to broil the skewers. I served the Kushiyaki with steamed rice and a green bean, edamame, and black bean salad.

"Very flavorful." "Great marinade." "I love the skewers." Thumbs up all around the dinner table. "A definite make again recipe." Thanks to The Husband.

Kushiyaki

makes about 18 skewers (10 inches long)

2 pork tenderloins, about 2 - 2 1/2 pounds total
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
couple dashes of sesame oil
18 - 20 10-inch wooden skewers (soak in water for about 10 minutes)
finely chopped scallions
sesame seeds

Cut each tenderloin into 1/2 inch slices. Cut each slice into 2 or 3 thin pieces. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Place about 3/4 of the marinade in a ziploc bag with the pork. Reserve the remaining marinade for basting of the skewers just before serving. Marinate the pork for about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to broil. Thread about 4 - 5 pieces of the pork on each skewer. Place on a large baking sheet. Broil about 3 - 4 minutes per side or until pork is just cooked through. Baste the skewers with the reserved marinade. Sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds and serve warm.