Kawa chicken skewers
I used a whole chicken for these skewers, which I jointed according to the instructions in the video at bbcgoodfood.com/videos/ techniques/how-joint-rawchicken.
For each skewer, dip the chicken in tare (see recipe, left) and thread onto wooden skewers that have been soaked in water. Grill over hot coals for a few mins, turning a couple of times until cooked through (7-8 mins), then spoon over a couple more teaspoons of tare. Season with salt.
1 Negima (thighs with leek/spring onion)
Cut 2 boneless and skinless chicken thighs into 2cm pieces. Thread the pieces onto skewers, layer with 2cm pieces of leek/ spring onion and trim the edges to neaten. Makes 6 skewers.
2 Tebasaki (wings)
Take 8 skin-on chicken wings. With the underside of the middle part of the wing facing up, slice through each wing with a sharp paring knife in between the two bones that you’ll feel underneath the skin. Fold out the meat so that all the skin ends up on the same side and you get two perfect bite-sized chunks on each side of the bone. Serve with shichimi togarashi
( japanese spice mix).
Makes 4 skewers.
3 Kawa (crispy skin)
Pay attention when you grill kawa, because it’s so fatty that the flames shoot up and misbehave.
Slice the raw skin from 1 whole chicken into 1cm wide strips. Boil in water for 1 min, then drain on kitchen paper. When the skin is dry, thread it onto skewers like a concertina, then trim it into a perfect square using a sharp knife. Season with salt. Makes 4 skewers.
4 Toriniku (breast)
Cut 1 skinless chicken breast into 2cm chunks and thread onto skewers. Trim so that all chunks are equally sized. Never over-grill toriniku, the meat should be juicy inside. Serve with a dollop of wasabi paste.
Makes 6 skewers.