Laughter, shouts of “kampai” and the smell of grilled meat emanate from the door of a restaurant in Japan. Yakiniku is written large on a sign in front of the entrance. Several tables for two people line the wall, each one equipped with a small table grill and its own extractor hood. At a small food stall next to it, yakitori chicken skewers sizzle on the grill, which the chef skillfully turns and repeatedly coats with a brown sauce. Just watching this makes your mouth water and you'll want to hand over a few yen coins in exchange for one of the delicious skewers. Japan has a rich barbecue culture that is fundamentally different from that of the West. But with a few tricks, the right ingredients and recipes, you can grill Japanese food here too. Even vegetarian.
Is Japanese BBQ always yakiniku?
First of all, the term yakiniku literally means “grilled meat”. However, when a Japanese person sees the word yakiniku on a sign, they don't think of steak or even sausages. Instead, yakiniku restaurants are those with their own grill per table, on which wafer-thin slices of meat, mushrooms and vegetables such as pumpkin, cabbage or corn are grilled. The thin slices are done in a flash. There are also small bowls of sauce (called yakiniku no tare) on the table for dipping, which perfectly rounds off the taste of the meat or vegetables.
Sound familiar to you? You may have eaten something similar in a Korean BBQ restaurant. The yakiniku restaurants also have Korean roots. After the Second World War, immigrants opened barbecue restaurants as they knew them from home, and this is how barbecuing at the table found its way into Japanese food culture.
However, grilled meat has of course been around for much longer in Japan and is not limited to yakiniku. Skewers of all kinds are also part of Japanese cuisine, the best known being yakitori, i.e. grilled poultry. But all sorts of other things are also skewered on the grill in Japan, from seafood and vegetables to innards. The correct word is kushiyaki, from kushi for skewers.
Japanese barbecue at home
Many Japanese households also have a table grill at home. The perfect grill for Japanese barbecuing is a konro grill (also known as a hibachi or yakitori grill). This has a layer of diatomaceous earth on the inside, which, in combination with the right binchotan charcoal, produces a particularly high heat. This is needed to cook the thin slices of meat quickly without drying them out. This distinguishes Japanese barbecuing from Western barbecuing, where large pieces of meat tend to be grilled over a longer period of time.
So can you grill Japanese at home? Yes, because Japanese BBQ is not always yakiniku. With the right ingredients and sauces, you can also season steak, fillet or vegetables in a Japanese way. And skewers are also a success on any grill.
Do you want the real yakiniku taste, even without a table grill? The easiest way to do this is with a yakiniku no tare (for example the cult sauce from Ebara or a variant with garlic). Dip grilled vegetables or meat cut into bite-sized pieces into the sauce or use it as a marinade, for example for tofu.
In our online shop for high-quality Japanese food, you will also find many other original Japanese seasoning sauces that you can use to give your grilled steak or vegetables a Japanese touch. Our recommendations include Bulldog Tonkatsu sauce, teriyaki sauce, a soy sauce with a citrus note or yuzu kosho chili paste.
Japanese BBQ: recipe for yakitori skewers
The easiest way to grill authentic Japanese food is with yakitori skewers. We have a simple recipe for you.
Ingredients (for 12 skewers):
- 500 g chicken breast or chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Spring onions, cut into 2 cm pieces (tip: depending on the season, you can also replace the onions with other firm vegetables such as asparagus or pumpkin)
- 120 ml soy sauce
- 120 ml mirin
- 4 tbsp sake
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- Wooden skewers, soaked in water
Instructions:
- Mix soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan.
- Bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat until the sauce has thickened to a third of the original amount, about half an hour. (Tip: the sauce will keep in the fridge in a tightly sealed jar for two to three months).
- Thread the chicken pieces and spring onions alternately onto the wooden skewers.
- Preheat the grill and grill the skewers over a medium heat until the meat is cooked through and slightly caramelized. For the real yakitori taste, turn the skewers regularly and brush them with the marinade every time you do.
Vegetarian, grilled miso eggplants
Of course you can also grill vegetables Japanese-style. Miso paste gives many varieties a very special flavor. For example, eggplants are perfect for a garden BBQ. With a bit of luck, you can even find Japanese eggplants in the supermarket. How to prepare them:
Ingredients (for 4 halves):
- 2 medium eggplants
- 2 tbsp miso paste
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- Sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions:
- Halve the eggplants lengthwise and cut the flesh crosswise without cutting through the skin.
- In a bowl, mix together the miso paste, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic to form a smooth paste.
- Brush the cut surfaces of the eggplants generously with the miso marinade.
- Preheat the grill and grill the eggplants cut-side down over medium heat until they are soft and slightly caramelized.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
With these tips and Japanese BBQ recipes, you are well equipped for an unforgettable evening with family or friends. Have fun trying them out!