Japanese Happy Mouth Yakitori Sauce

• servings: 8 servings
• total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup fresh grated ginger (plus all the liquid that comes out when you are grating)

5 cloves garlic (crushed)

½ cup soy sauce (preferably low sodium)

½ cup sake (or dry white wine)

½ cup orange juice

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon your favorite hot pepper sauce (more or less to taste)

1 ½ teaspoons corn starch

Directions

Cook. In a 2 quart non-reactive saucepan, mix all the ingredients except the corn starch and gently simmer on medium-low for about 30 minutes.

Strain. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer into another sauce pan. The chunky stuff has given its all for us and it is now time to discard it like old love letters. Gently press the mush that is left in the strainer against the mesh with a ladle or a spoon to get out all those good juices. Taste the sauce and adjust the honey or hot sauce if you wish. Put it back on a burner on medium-low.

Thicken. Put the cornstarch into a coffee cup and add an ounce or two of cold water. With a fork, whisk it so it is thoroughly dissolved and, before it has a chance to separate, dump it into the sauce. The sauce will get milky, thicken considerably, and when it warms up start burbling like lava. Simmer about 10 to 15 minutes or until it gets like motor oil and clarifies a bit.

How to use: To replicate the yakitori-ya experience, don’t put meat and veggies on the same skewer because they cook at different rates. Keep everything on the skewer the same and similar in size. To make sure they all turn together and don't spin, use two skewers rather than one.Cook the meat or veggies over direct heat, but not extremely hot. One layer of charcoal or medium heat on a gas grill should do it. Leave the lid open and turn the meat often. When the meat is almost done, paint the sauce on. No more than 2 coats are needed. Watch carefully so that the sugar doesn't burn.If you don't want to do skewers, you can do chicken or turkey parts, salmon filets or steaks, pork chops, or even ribs.

Notes

Kesä 2023:

- Pari kertaa koitettu kanan kanssa, kerran possun sisäfileen kanssa

- Puolikas annos ok noin 3 hengen aterialle

- Palaa todella herkästi (<1 min) grillissä jos hiillos on kuuma

2024-07-06: Kanan lisäksi käytin soosia kaikkiin lisukekasviksiin (paprika, punasipuli, kukkakaali). Kaikki oli vartaissa - aikamoinen varrastaminen ja grillatessa säätö oli, kädet loppu kesken. Glaseerauksessa noin 30s käännöt, kana ei palanut yhtään ja tuli tosi hyväksi. Hiillos oli vieläkin liian kuuma (lämmöt grillissä ~250 kansi kiinni) vaikka mukamas varovaisesti yritin hiiliä laittaa, varmaan täytyisi olla vaan yksi ohut kerros tai antaa hiilloksen hiipua ennen grillausta. Kastikkeeseen heitin maissijauhot heti alkuun vaikka olisi pitänyt ensin keittää kasaan ja jätin inkiväärit lillumaan mutta ei tuntunut haittaavan.

Nutrition

• Calories: 122 kcal
• Total Fat: 4 g
• Saturated Fat: 1 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
• Sodium: 854 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 17 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 14 g
• Protein: 2 g