Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewers (Yakitori) with Shishito Peppers

It’s a grilling season again!   We love grilling out, because for some reason everything tastes so much better when you are cooking and dining outside with your friends and family.   Yakitori, Japanese grilled chicken skewers, should be added to your rotation of recipes to grill out this summer!

Traditionally, yakitori is made with green onions but I mixed it up a bit and made some with shishito peppers.  You can, of course, skip shishito peppers and use green onions for the recipe by doubling the amount of green onions.  Or replace green onions entirely by doubling the shishito pepper amount in the recipe.  But if you can find these peppers, be sure to give them a try!  You won’t regret it.

Shishito Peppers

Shishito is the Japanese name for these small, bright green peppers with smokey and vibrant flavor.  One out of every 10 (or so) of these peppers tend to be spicy. The rest of them has pretty much no heat to it at all.

“Shishi” means “lion” in Japanese.   And ‘-tō” comes from the Japanese word for chili peppers “tō-garashi.”  Supposedly, this pepper was named literally “lion chili pepper” because it looks like the lion in the Japanese version of the lion dance, called Shishi-mai.  In the Japanese lion dance, the lion costume traditionally consists of the green fabric that’s draped over the performers to make the body.  When the performers dance around, they create that wrinkled look, which the peppers also display.

Because these peppers taste great when they are a little charred, grilling them with this savory, slightly sweet sauce make for a delightful combination. I am definitely glad to see these gems becoming more available at some grocery stores, like Trader Joe’s. 

Recipe Ideas: Check out the Japanese grilled corn recipe to serve with these Japanese grilled chicken skewers! Or try these delicious stuffed shishito pepper tempura.

Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewer Recipe

Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewers (Yakitori)

Yakitori, Japanese grilled chicken skewers with a new twist! Try making them with shishito peppers for an added burst of flavor!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Grilling, Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 lbs chicken thighs
• 4 green onions
• 16 – 20 shishito peppers (about 6 oz) stems removed
• shichimi peppers optional

Yakitori Sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce, low sodium
• 1/2 cup Japanese sake
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

 

• If you are using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for at least 10 minutes.
• Pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.
• Combine the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring the sauce to boil then reduce the heat to low. Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes.
• Cut the green onions into 1.5 inch pieces, cut chicken into bites size pieces, and remove the stems from shishito peppers.
  
• Skewer the chicken on skewers, alternating with green onions or shishito peppers.
  
• Place all the skewered chicken on the grill. Using a brush, baste the skewers generously with the sauce. Then turn the skewers over to cook the side with the sauce. Then baste the other side with sauce. Grill for 8-10 minutes.
• Turn the skewers over. Baste the skewers lightly with any remaining sauce, as desired. Grill for 8-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Sprinkle shichimi peppers and serve immediately.

Keyword chicken, grilled, shishito peppers, skewered

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