Bill Granger recipe: Minced chicken yakitori

Serves 4

Beautifully succulent: Bill's minced chicken yakitori (Laura Edwards)

Making your own teriyaki sauce takes no time and tastes so much better than anything you can get in a bottle. You could use strips of chicken breast for the skewers, but I like these little patties, which pack in lots more flavour and stay beautifully succulent.

For the teriyaki sauce

120ml mirin
120ml soy sauce
120ml white wine
50g granulated sugar

For the yakitori

500g chicken mince
5cm ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 green chilli, halved and finely chopped
1 tsp honey
8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes
8 spring onions, cut in half

To serve

Shichimi pepper seasoning
¼ cabbage, cut into chunks, leaves separated

Place the mirin, soy sauce, white wine and sugar in a pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool.

Use your hands to combine the chicken, ginger, garlic, spring onions, chilli and honey in a large bowl. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, squeezing with your hands to bring the mixture together.

Wet your hands and form 16 balls. Thread 2 balls on to the skewers, interspersed with lengths of spring onions. Place on a tray and leave to rest in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the grill to 180C/ 350F/Gas4. Place a non-stick griddle or frying pan over a medium heat. Brush the skewers all over with oil and griddle on both sides for 2 minutes or until golden.

Place the skewers in a roasting tin, drizzle with the teryaki sauce and place in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle the chicken with shichimi pepper. Serve with leaves of cabbage and extra teriyaki sauce.