The secret with Japanese grilled chicken is to BBQ the chicken several times, with steeping in a marinade in between. The sugar and ginger in the marinade gives the chicken a very different taste, caramelizing the outer surface. This is a traditional Japanese dish, but all the ingredients are available locally.
Cooking method
Soak the skewers in water for 10 minutes. Wash chicken breasts, and cut into bite sized pieces and then thread on to skewers. Place over a charcoal BBQ or under the grill until partially cooked.
Mix sake, soya sauce and sugar and pour into a wide flat bowl. Lay skewered chicken in the marinade for five minutes, then turn over and leave for another five minutes.
Now return to the BBQ and grill for another two minutes each side. After this, return to the marinade and repeat the marinade process. Now complete the final BBQ grilling while brushing the remaining marinade over the skewered chicken, to produce a dark shiny glaze. Sprinkle with the powdered ginger.
Shred the cucumber and sprinkle with salt and serve the chicken skewers on small plates and garnish each with a mound of cucumber.
| Ingredients | serves 2-3 |
| Chicken breast fillets | 6 |
| Sake | ½ cup |
| Dark soya sauce | 1/3rd cup |
| Sugar | 60 gm |
| Powdered ginger | 2 tspns |
| Cucumber | 1 small |
| Salt to taste | |
| Skewers | 6 |
